Some residents of Mamelodi who protested outside their local Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday called for the reinstatement of the death penalty after a young girl was raped in the Far East of the township at the weekend.
The perpetrator has already been arrested and appeared in court on Tuesday, where the aggrieved residents staged a protest whereby they insisted that he should not be granted bail and also that the death penalty must be reinstated in South Africa.
Ward 40 Councillor Makola joined the protesting residents outside the Mamelodi in West Magistrate’s Court and vowed to attend court proceedings until the case comes to an end in solidarity with the rape victim and her family.
Anti-GBV activist from Mamelodi East Betty Sibeko expressed sadness that young girls were falling prey to rapists almost on a daily basis and that even older women are being raped.
“I appeal to the community at large to help us fight the scourge of GBV, including rape,” said Sibeko.
UAT member in Tshwane Doer Sebotsane told Tshwane Talks that as residents and stakeholders in Mamelodi they will not tolerate evil acts like rape and decried the fact that some men and boys in the township, like the alleged rapist, want to do as they please by sexually violating young young girls,” he said.
“We are here as the community to support the victim and we want her to know that what happened to her is not her fault at all, and we are saying the alleged rapist must not get bail but must stay in the police cells,” said Sebotsane.
“We want the death penalty to be reinstated because since the death penalty was abolished crime in general, including rape and GBV, has escalated in this country,” emphasised Sebotsane.
Tsalanang NPO Chairperson Tshepo Ramoncha told Tshwane Talks that the victim reported the rape case to him and after taking her to the police station they were referred to the Mamelodi Day Hospital where it was indeed confirmed that the victim had been raped.
“We urge all residents of Mamelodi to come and support our anti-GBV initiatives so that we can stop incidents whereby our children and sisters get raped,” said Ramoncha.
Solomon Mahlangu Ward 6 branch chairperson Busisiwe Mgiba told Tshwane Talks that as the community of Mamelodi they are “sick-and-tired and it seems like it is a crime or a sin to give birth birth to a girl child, and what makes this matter worse is that the victim was raped by the friend of her uncle, who should have behaved better and showed that he is a responsible person,” lamented Mgiba.
“If the South African law is not harsh enough on perpetrators, then we as the community will end up taking the law into our own hands because how are we as parents of victims expected to feel when we see perpetrators roaming the streets after being freed on a technicality or on bail,” fumed Mgiba.
“We are going to toyi-toyi until all perpetrators of rape and murder go to jail and we are therefore calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty, or else we shall implement our own death penalty with our own hands,” she warned.
Mamelodi Magistrates Court Senior Prosecutor Anne Marie Benndamne said the accused will appear in court again on 18 November 2025 for formal bail hearing.
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