The father of a four-year-old boy who was allegedly raped by a neighbour is hopeful his son will overcome the trauma and be able to give police a detailed statement.

Police and social workers were struggling to get the boy to speak about what happened. The incident happened last week in a village east of Polokwane in Limpopo. Yesterday, social workers were giving counselling to the boy in an effort to help him overcome the trauma and open up.

Police spokesperson Col Moatshe Ngoepe confirmed that they had initially tried to obtain a statement from the boy but that he could not talk as he was too traumatised.

"We deliberately delayed the matter as we did not want to put pressure on the victim as we wanted to allow him time to deal with the trauma."

He said the boy had shown improvement following the session with social workers and had begun to speak about what happened. Ngoepe said they were awaiting a report from social workers, which would direct their next step.

"For now we will continue to monitor developments on the case and make an arrest at an appropriate time," he said.

According to the father, he was on his way to a bus stop last week when he came across his son in the street. He was seemingly unable to walk.

"My son was unable to walk and was in deep pain," he said, adding that upon inquiring what was wrong, the boy explained what had happened.

"The man is well known [to the boy and family] because he previously assisted us in doing bricklaying. We then reported a case of rape against him at the Mankweng police station," the 39-year-old man said.

The boy, however, was unable to relay the same story to police officers.

"The incident has affected my son so badly that he has not attended school since. He is too traumatised."

The boy is a grade R pupil at a local primary school.

"The counselling session provided to him has helped him heal spiritually," he said.