Rape victim seeking justice

It looks like Ntombi Mkhwanazi(34) will finally get justice — and closure — following her ordeal in which she was gang-raped on four separate incidents.

Just over a month ago, Mkhwanazi of Katlehong disclosed to Kathorus MAIL how she thought the criminal justice system had failed her by not bringing to book the perpetrators of the crime.

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Col Israel Mdluli of Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences from Palm Ridge Magistrate Court, said chances were high that the case would be reassigned to court if the victim was dissatisfied about the withdrawal of the case, adding that the case had now been allocated to Capt Johannes Morolong for investigation.

Morolong said the case was assigned to him after there was a complaint directed by provincial office against the police. Morolong said the complaint was about how wrong the case was handled.

On April 24, Kathorus Mail published an article in which Mkhwanazi expressed her unhappiness about how the justice system had failed her following her alleged sexual assaults.

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During the interview with the paper, Mkhwanazi said she was gang-raped, assaulted and had her cellphone stolen by the perpetrators. She said her attackers were still “roaming the streets freely even after she identified one of them”.

The provincial police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini denied the justice system had failed Mkhwanazi, arguing that three suspects were arrested and that the case had been withdrawn. Dlamini could not say why the matter was withdrawn. He instead referred Mkhwanazi to the NPA.

Following dissatisfaction from the victim on how the case was withdrawn, the newspaper spoke to Mdluli.

Mdluli said chances were high that the case would be reinstated if the victim was dissatisfied about how the case was handled. He

said the case had been reassigned to Capt Johannes Morolong for investigation.

In an interview, Morolong said the case was assigned to him after there was a complaint directed by provincial office against the police. Morolong said the complaint was about how wrong the case was handled.

“After the case was assigned to me, the following day I went to meet with the victim to introduce myself as a person now in charge of the case,” Morolong said.

He said he will make Mkhwanazi’s case a priority and that the first step would be to book her at the Teddy Bear Clinic in Johannesburg for counselling and mental health assessment. “After that, I will wait for the report from the clinic to see if she is fit to stand trial. Secondly, I will go to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Pretoria to get the DNA samples that were taken at the hospital where she was treated after she was sexually assaulted,” said Morolong.

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