[imagesource: Shiraaz Mohamed]

Content warning: descriptions of sexual violence

Without rehashing the atrocities of what happened last Thursday at West Village in Krugersdorp in great detail, eight women were robbed and repeatedly gang raped while filming a music video.

It’s a story that has both shocked the nation and given us that familiar feeling of resignation, as we watch another investigation stagger and splutter in the early stages.

Yesterday, the case against 60 men who are charged with being illegally in the country was postponed, with an ID parade planned. The arrests were made during a police raid on illegal miners in the area, with some of the stolen items found in their possession.

Raids using a drone, helicopters, and intelligence were also carried out yesterday with illegal mining equipment destroyed

As things stand, no charges of sexual assault have been laid but it’s hoped the parade could link the men with the rapes.

Experts who spoke with News24 say that may be unlikely:

…there was a possibility the outstanding ID parade would have little success since the men linked to the rape were wearing balaclavas.

“I don’t think the ID parade is going to be very successful given the trauma of the victims and the fact that they were wearing balaclavas,” Professor Amanda Gouws from the department of political science at the University of Stellenbosch said.

“I think the victims are too traumatised. In this case, there was extreme violence involved, and victims need to be psychologically prepared through counselling.”

Despite more than 120 arrests around the West Village area, provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela told News24 that “there was no immediate link to any of the arrested suspects to the gang rape of the women”.

DNA testing has been put forward as the most likely way to identify those involved. In South Africa, that can be a notoriously slow procedure with a massive backlog at labs across the country.

Mawela did say that the DNA of 17 men will be tested for potential links, and those results would be prioritised. We heard similar statements regarding the cause of death investigation of the Enyobeni tavern tragedy, yet still, we wait.

The rape victims started counselling this week, reports City Press, and face a long road to recovery:

“His smell won’t go away. It’s all over my face and when I go to the bathroom, I can still smell them in my pee.”

This was what one of the eight women… told the counsellors when they started their session this week…

“I don’t know how to get rid of their smell, it’s too much. When I close my eyes, I can still see their faces, they have left a scar that will never heal.”

Meanwhile, our minister of police reckons one of the women “was lucky — if it is lucky” to be raped by just one man.

Minister of police Bheki Cele

“A 19 year girl was lucky to be raped by one man” #PhalaPhalaFarmGate pic.twitter.com/m0qqqomYig

— Banele (@Gentlements) August 3, 2022

Sadly, this utter fool will never take his own advice and just shut up.

Women in this country will never know peace.

[sources:news24&citypress]