UPDATE: 21 August 2015, 3pm – The gallery was filled to the brim in Court 13 of the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court with media representatives and the public on 21 August to attend the bail hearing of Mandela’s grandson.
The accused faces charges of raping a 15 year old girl at a popular bar in Greenside.
Magistrate Pieter Du Plessis stated that the defense’s case would be based that there was consensus and that the Mandela believed that the girl was over the legal age.
Advocate Nico Swart addressed the Court on behalf of the Mandela stated that he (Mandela) had heard on the night that the girl was over the legal age.
Magistrate Du Plessiss stated that the offense is that of a schedule six even though the accused was under the impression that he thought the girl was over the legal age.
The bail hearing has been postponed until the 25 August and the accused to remain in custody until then.
UPDATE: 19 August 2o15, 11am – The owner of Mamma’s Shebeen, Yaw Dwomoh, where the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl took place on 7 August, could not confirm the incident as he had been ill that evening.
The accused, a grandson of the late Nelson Mandela, is currently being detained at the Johannesburg Correctional Centre after briefly appearing in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on 17 August.
Dwomoh has stated that he is more than willing to co-operate with authorities but has been baffled by the fact that no police have contacted him or been to his Greenside business premises to perform an investigation.
The case was also only reported a week after the incident was said to have taken place. On the same day the case was opened, a group of people went to Mamma’s Shebeen, supposedly to inspect it, but when questioned by management, it turned out one of them was the alleged victim’s mother.
“We have nothing to hide here,” said Dwomoh, who invited Rosebank Killarney Gazette to inspect his establishment.
“We also do security checks at the door to make sure no underage drinking takes place,” he added, thus he was unsure how a 15-year-old girl passed security.
“I also wish this came to my knowledge earlier, because although we have security cameras, they only retain footage for 120 hours, so after a week has passed, that footage is gone.”
“The accused will appear in court again on 21 August, where a formal bail application hearing will be held,” confirmed Gauteng Provincial Police spokesperson, Brigadier Mashadi Selepe.
Ward Councillor for Greenside, Amanda Forsythe, has spoken out about the incident as well.
Forsythe said, “Why do we always have to wait for tragedy to strike before officials wake up and enforce the law?”
According to Forsythe, countless raids and inspections have been conducted in the Greenside business node to ensure compliance to local bylaws and the Gauteng Liquor Act, among others. Underage drinking was one of the problems identified in the node, as well as several establishments operating as clubs on a restaurant licence.
“I’ve taken a lot of flack from businesses and their patrons regarding theses raids and inspections”, Forsythe reveals, “But people don’t understand how breaking seemingly ‘unimportant’ bylaws leads to more serious crimes being committed. When a culture of lawlessness is created, it’s only a matter of time before something really bad happens”.
The Councillor cited other examples of serious crime that resulted from establishments that were repeatedly allowed to flout the law, like: the murder of Pirates rugby player, Thulane Popoyi, at Dollar Table in Melville in 2014 and a more recent murder, also in Melville, allegedly involving the owner of a local shebeen.
“These were places that had been repeatedly reported to Joburg city officials, the SAPS and the Gauteng Liquor Board for breaking various laws, but nothing was done about them”, she says.
Determined to hold the authorities accountable, Forsythe launched a plan for a full audit of both Greenside and Melville businesses some months ago.
“The idea”, she explains, “Was to collate all licencing, zoning and other information into one document so that we could more easily identify and target the offenders”.
With the help of the Greenside Residents Association, and particularly the current Chairperson, Bridget Steer, the Greenside Audit has finally been completed. “While it could not prevent recent, tragic events, hopefully it will help us avoid future ones”.
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INITIAL REPORT: 18 August 2015, 10:30am – According to the initial article published by the Daily Sun the grandson, who cannot be named until details of his bail hearing on 17 August are released, grabbed the girl when she went to the restroom and forced himself on her.
It was stated that the father of the girl tried to open a case with police, but instead, Madikizela-Mandela requested that her family take some time to deal with the matter internally first. She promised to hand her grandson over to police and hold a press conference on the matter, neither of which materialised.
It is alleged a bodyguard of Madikizela-Mandela then went to see the girl’s family and pretended to be a police investigator. He allegedly told the family that Madikizela-Mandela’s grandson need not be arrested, but when he was asked for identification, he couldn’t provide any.
A spokesperson for the victim’s family stated that they are enraged by the way they were treated by both police and the Madikizela-Mandela family, and that a case of rape has been opened with police.
Rosebank Killarney Gazette is currently awaiting comment from Parkview Police Station.
Updates to follow.
