A five-year-old East London boy was raped, allegedly at his new creche.
The owner of the unregistered creche, which operates in the lounge of an RDP house in Egoli, has vehemently denied the incident happened at her facility.
East London police spokesperson Captain Hazel Mqala confirmed that a rape case was being investigated and said DNA samples of two males who were at the facility – the owner’s husband, 51, and son, 24, were taken for testing.
“We are waiting for the DNA results,” said Mqala.
She was unable to say when the test results would come back.
Social development spokesperson Mzukisi Solani said: “As the custodians of children and a department responsible for their protection, we are shocked.”
Speaking to the Dispatch on Wednesday, the toddler’s 30-year-old mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the boy, said her son told her that a man at the creche, whom he had not identified, told him to take off his pants and bend down, and then something penetrated him.
She said he told her this while they were walking home from school last Monday, the day of the alleged incident.
“My knees got weak, I felt dizzy and sat down under the nearest tree. I asked him again what happened, and he repeated his words,” said the mother.
She said when she fetched him the creche owner had not reported anything out of the ordinary.
“After he told me this I was so confused, I didn’t know whether I should go back to the creche or home. We went home. When I arrived I laid him on the bed and saw that he had been penetrated,” she said.
She told his father and they went to the Buffalo Flats police station to open a rape case. The child was taken to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital that evening and it was confirmed that he had been penetrated.
“They gave him some medication including emergency ARVs [antiretrovirals] to prevent contracting HIV which he has to take twice a day,” she said.
They went back to the creche the following day with the police.
When the Dispatch visited their home, the little boy was playing with a ball outside. He is not attending school at the moment.
“During the day he seems fine, but he wakes up crying and screaming at night,” his mother said.
They are set to return to the hospital on Thursday for counselling.
The Dispatch visited the creche, which started operating six months ago. It is about 2km away from the child’s home.
About 20 children aged between two and five were lying on the floor of the tiny room, which is about 4x3m.
The owner said: “From my point of view nothing like that happened here at the school.”
She said no strangers entered the facility on that day and her husband and her son were the only males on the premises.
“My husband was in the bedroom and my son was with his girlfriend in the back shack.
“I am telling you that child was not raped here. I hope they find the culprit,” she said.
Solani said the department would follow up to ensure someone was held accountable...