An intern working at Durban’s Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital has been suspended pending an investigation into a series of sexually offensive social media posts.
In the posts‚ the man - who may not be named - threatened to rape girls aged between seven and 10 who are his neighbours in order to "teach them a lesson".
KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo told a media briefing in Durban on Monday that he had instructed the hospital to remove the outsourced trainee - who is not in the medical profession - immediately after Dhlomo was alerted to the offensive posts at the weekend.
In one of the posts under #Silungisa_Icountry (which translates to "we’re fixing the country")‚ the intern posted: “Ingane yaka makhekwane ina 10yrs kuthi angiyidlwengule nyi! nyi! Kuphele ukuphapha (A neighbour’s child is 10 years old and I feel like raping her so that she cannot be too forward).”
In another post‚ he said his neighbour’s (other) child was seven years old and he also felt like raping her.
This incurred the wrath of a Facebook user who posted on his profile‚ saying: “This is his profile... I am not sure if he thinks this is a joke or what but our country is up in arms fighting the issue of rape and people like him think it’s OK to go around posting this kind of post... I have been a victim of sexual assault so I really think people like him need to be taught a lesson. We can’t have him working around our kids."
Hospital removes trainee after 'vile' rape threats on social media
An intern working at Durban’s Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital has been suspended pending an investigation into a series of sexually offensive social media posts.
In the posts‚ the man - who may not be named - threatened to rape girls aged between seven and 10 who are his neighbours in order to "teach them a lesson".
KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo told a media briefing in Durban on Monday that he had instructed the hospital to remove the outsourced trainee - who is not in the medical profession - immediately after Dhlomo was alerted to the offensive posts at the weekend.
In one of the posts under #Silungisa_Icountry (which translates to "we’re fixing the country")‚ the intern posted: “Ingane yaka makhekwane ina 10yrs kuthi angiyidlwengule nyi! nyi! Kuphele ukuphapha (A neighbour’s child is 10 years old and I feel like raping her so that she cannot be too forward).”
In another post‚ he said his neighbour’s (other) child was seven years old and he also felt like raping her.
This incurred the wrath of a Facebook user who posted on his profile‚ saying: “This is his profile... I am not sure if he thinks this is a joke or what but our country is up in arms fighting the issue of rape and people like him think it’s OK to go around posting this kind of post... I have been a victim of sexual assault so I really think people like him need to be taught a lesson. We can’t have him working around our kids."
Dhlomo said the man's posts‚ which are no longer on his Facebook page‚ sparked a considerable outcry on social media‚ with numerous concerned Facebook users reporting him to the department.
"We have since instructed management of Prince Mshiyeni to remove this person immediately‚ pending the outcome of an investigation‚" said Dhlomo.
"As health MEC‚ I am appointed by the premier to be the provincial chairperson of the Men’s Forum where I motivate men to be protectors of families and societies. We cannot be talking about the need to protect and nurture women and young girls on one hand‚ and on the other hand have in our midst people who harbour such vile‚ reprehensible thoughts.”
Dhlomo said even if the intern was not an employee of the department "we don’t want him within the system".
"Although the individual concerned is not a government employee‚ we wish to urge all departmental staff — and citizens in general — to conduct themselves with dignity at all times on social media and desist from conduct that may bring them or their employers into disrepute."
The man didn't respond to queries sent to him via his Facebook page.