By Molefi Sompane
SASOLBURG – Noma Mongali (not her real name), 23, still remembers how badly she was assaulted and raped by a group of men in her township of Zamdela.
“I still don’t believe that I am still alive. They beat me up and took turns to rape me,” she said.
She had been at the local tavern when one of her attackers solicited sexual favours from her and plied her with alcohol. But Mongali paid for the few drinks with more than she had bargained for. She was pounded and gang raped.
“Things turned for the worse when the friends insisted that I accompany them to a shack owned by the group”
Mongali said her “suitor” had connived with his friends to attack her in a shack in France Informal settlement.
“After the ordeal it was hard for me to walk, sit or sleep. Luckily, they didn’t realize I had a phone. So I called my friend who came in her boyfriend’s car to collect me,” said Mongali crying.
She is now living with HIV/Aids and a daughter conceived during the rape. She believes that alcohol abuse played a key role in her ordeal.
“I fell pregnant and got infected. If I had not been drinking, I would not have been assaulted,” she sobbed.
Mongali said she now hated alcohol. “I also hate those who gave me this child, but I am relieved the gang got sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.”
The assault on Mongali is one of between 25 and 30 cases of rape that are reported in Zamdela, Sasolburg, Northern Free State every month.
The crime rate in Zamdela surpasses other towns in the Fezile Dabi District despite the recent launch of an anti-drugs campaign at which the MEC of Social Development Sisi Ntombela appealed to the public to stop the scourge of drug.
At the launch Ntombela said: “We need to stand together and stop drug usage in our communities because there are a lot of bad things influenced by them. I appeal to the churches and communities to support measures that stop drug use.”
Another young lady Seipati Ngobe, said her brother, Mohlalefi was arrested for raping a child in Zamdela two years ago.
She said the family had tried to discourage him from smoking marijuana.
“Mohlalefi did not want to listen to us when we asked him to stop using dagga. Peer pressure earned him a prison term and he had to suffer the consequences alone,” she said.
But Rasta Melkitsedek dismissed the notion that marijuana sets off violent behaviour in an individual.
“It’s a lie that marijuana changes someone’s mind. I have been using it for a while and I haven’t been violent. Those who engage in criminal activities plan these things before they use it. Maybe some other drugs do but not marijuana,” he said.
Nthabiseng Malakwane rubbished claims that alcohol leads to violent behaviour. “I believe that people do things intentionally and blame alcohol. These people resort to silly excuses for their bad behaviour.”
But police spokesperson Peter Kareli said achohol played a big role in encouraging criminal conduct.
“It is true that most of the rape cases are a result of liquor as often you find that a victim or assailant would have been coming from a tavern and meet their assailants on the way home,” Kareli said.
Last Sunday, June 17 Fezile Dabi Executive mayor Moeketsi Moshodi implored men to stop abusing women. “As fathers we need to show our daughters, sisters and partners that we care about them. We need to take care and safeguard them from rape that is on the increase in our areas,” the mayor said.
He condemned those blaming unemployment for committing rape. “It is cowardly to rape because you are unemployed. What about those drinking? Does liquor cause them to rape? We need to take charge of our communities and make them free walking zones.”