Father arrested for allegedly using daughter as sex slave for 9-years
A KwaZulu-Natal father has been arrested after allegedly grooming and repeatedly raping his daughter over a nine-year period, the provincial Department of Social Development has said.
Bulwer police traced him to his workplace, where he was arrested on Tuesday after his daughter opened a case against him.
Social workers were sent to the KwaMakhongwane area in Bulwer in the Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Local Municipality this week to meet with the victim and her family.
KwaZulu-Natal Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza said a team of social workers “spent hours” talking to the 21-year-old victim, who detailed how her father “groomed her as his sexual slave”.
“After an interaction with the social workers, the victim resolved to go to the police station to open a rape case against her father.”
The girl’s mother was believed to have died and she had been living with her sibling, her father and her stepmother.
According to police, the man has allegedly been raping his daughter since 2012.
Khoza said the victim was immediately removed and taken to a shelter, with social workers providing her with psycho-social support.
“We are very pleased by the dedication shown by the social workers and police who attended to this matter with speed. Equally, we want to applaud members of the community, who finally spoke out about this inhumane act of this heartless man,” she said.
She called on police to ensure they “collect all evidence to ensure that the perpetrator is successfully prosecuted”.
“No child is safe if a person is able to sleep with his daughter and act as if it is normal.”
Khoza said South Africa faced many instances of children being raped by their fathers, stepfathers and uncles. She added that every member of society had to play their role in exposing such cruelty.
“No bail should be given to such people as they don’t deserve to stay in our communities. How can a person rape a child for nine years and pretend as if it’s normal?” she questioned.