‘Rape’ crèche finally shuts down

PARENTS of Tshepisong, near Krugersdorp, gave a sigh of relief after a daycare centre riddled with allegations of rape and paedophilia was finally shut down yesterday.

A litany of complaints about the centre came after The Star made it known that there could be a sexual predator in the area as a 4-year-old girl was allegedly raped at the centre’s premises – allegedly by the son of the facility’s owner – and a 10-year-old girl from the community was allegedly raped by an undisclosed man.

Little did The Star team know that the story was so much bigger.

The Star investigated Lindokuhle Day Care Centre and found that its owner’s 30-year-old son was linked to the alleged rape but had not been arrested and the centre was still operational.

Shortly after our first report on Monday, more allegations of sexual abuse started coming out. Another mom of a child who attended the day-care centre told The Star that her child showed signs of bleeding in her genitals but she did open a case.

The mom has now laid a rape charge. On Monday, centre owner Khanyi Mazeka had told The Star that she was waiting for the police report before commenting.

“The community said I must send my son away which I did. Why is your newspaper chasing me? I’m still waiting for a police report.”

The Star was contacted by another neighbour who claimed she had survived an attempted rape by another family member of the Mazekas.

Kgomotso Nthite told The Star that she was so touched by the story of the 4-year-old’s rape that she decided to open up about her attempted rape.

The Star has confirmed that Ntsila has a case number from the Kagiso police station but to date no arrest has been made.

She said after opening the case, the suspect was taken to KwaZulu-Natal.

“That crèche should never open again because there was something unexplainable in that house. One of the men from that house dragged me into the yard at night. He found me walking on the street and said he would show me that he would sleep with me.”

Ntsila has given The Star and its digital sister company IOL a video interview detailing her attack.

Neighbours said the Mazekas had become a nightmare for them.

Earlier this week, the owner of the centre sent WhatsApp messages to parents, saying social development had cleared her and that they should bring the children back to crèche. The Social Development Department dismissed those claims on Wednesday.

Olebogeng Moemisi, of the Sister’s Keeper Movement, the NGO that has been supporting the family, said it was a concern that cases of child rape aren’t taken seriously.

The activist said the reason she took this matter seriously was because of her own experiences but also as an activist she felt that women and the girl child were being failed, especially because no arrest has been made in this case.

“Usually we are so reactive as a nation we wait for things like this to happen,” she said. “As a movement, we are very excited to hear that the day care centre has shut its doors. We thank The Star for their work.”

“We are worried by these cruel attacks on girl children and will work with all stakeholders including the police to ensure justice and that perpetrators are brought to book. The day-care centre was closed and will not operate. We have engaged parents of the last few remaining children at the centre about the closure and gave them a list of more than 10 registered ECD centres in the area where they can take their children to. The centre was also not registered,” said Motsamai Motlhaolwa, Gauteng Department of Social Development’s communication head.