By: ANG Reporter
Government has strongly condemned the rape and robbery of eight women in Krugersdorp on Thursday who were filming a music video.
Following the brutal crime, President Cyril Ramaphosa directed the law enforcement agencies to ensure that these men are apprehended. Three suspects have already been arrested, and the police are on the ground searching for other suspects.
Government is confident that the judicial system will ensure that justice is served for these women, with the perpetrators receiving the harshest sentences.
GCIS Director-General, Phumla Williams, said, “the disregard of women’s rights and safety will never be normalised in South Africa. Government and society are working hard to turn the tide of gender-based violence, and we will not accept such crimes against women. The rape of one woman is a degradation and limitation to all women. Rape is the most intimate of crimes, and it is disturbing that this incident occurs at a time when the country will be entering Women’s Month.”
Earlier, the Johannesburg High Court sentenced Ntuthuko Shoba to life imprisonment, after he was found guilty of premeditated murder of his then-pregnant girlfriend, Tshegofatso Pule, who was found hanging from a tree. Shoba’s sentencing is one of many stringent sentences handed out to perpetrators of gender-based violence and sends a message that South Africa will not allow women to be victims of gender-based violence.
Meanwhile, Police Minister Bheki Cele has confirmed that three suspects have been arrested for the rape of eight women in the West Rand on Thursday.
Briefing the media at the ANC’s policy conference in Soweto, Cele said the women were part of a group of 22 young people who were shooting a music video at a mine dump in Krugersdorp.
The Star understands that the group of young people was confronted by illegal miners who are believed to be from Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
Cele said one of the rape victims was raped six times, while another was raped by 10 men. The young men who were shooting a music video with the women were chased down and stripped naked. Bullets had been fired at them when they tried to run.
Cele told the media that the young women were taken to various hospitals. Police were looking for seven more men who participated in the rapes. Cele said the incident was unfortunate. He advised all those who wish to take videos or do creative work near mine dumps to do so in the presence of the police.
