The mother of a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by a foreign shop owner says her daughter was given R5 for her silence.

The 29-year-old mother told Sowetan her daughter revealed how the shop owner had been raping her since September last year and giving her money afterwards.

The shop owner was arrested on Friday, hours after he had allegedly raped the girl again in Maake, outside Tzaneen in Limpopo. Her mother said the girl left home for school at about 6am but she met her along the way an hour later.

"When I asked why she was not in school yet, she told me that she had passed by the tuckshop first to buy sweets.

"However, I was not satisfied with the answer she gave me. I approached the shop owner to find out what my daughter was doing at his shop in the morning and he said she was there to buy sweets."

She said because she was worried, she ordered her to undress at home after school.

"I found that she had been penetrated. She started to open [up and told me] that he offered her R5 not to tell anyone or else he will kill her.

"I saw the R5; she had it in her hand. She also revealed that the suspect started raping her from September last year and he would offer her R20 or R10 after raping her," she said.

The mother said she was hurt as she considered the suspect as a brother because he had been operating his shop for many years, since she herself was still in high school.

She said the suspect should go to jail and never come back.

While the mother mentioned R5, police spokesperson Col Moatshe Ngoepe said the girl "was allegedly raped by the spaza shop owner who thereafter gave her R20".

Ngoepe said the alleged rape sparked violence in the area, leading to community members attacking other foreign traders.

The girl's grandmother recalled how the girl bled on the bed in September last year.

"I thought she was on her periods because I didn't think she started having sex. She didn't say anything when I asked, she was afraid to talk."