Mom begs Cele to put Pirates star in jail

Bheki Cele
Image: Esa Alexander

An Orlando Pirates striker is being accused of raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl while her mother was in the house and his girlfriend was asleep in the same bedroom.

But the police appear to be dragging their feet in effecting the arrest of the man who was also the mixologist at a family lunch before the alleged incident.

The victim's mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the girl, opened a case of statutory rape against the soccer ace at the Olievenhoutbosch police station last Monday - after the child's school teacher informed her of the alleged incident.

In an interview with Sunday World, the girl's mother said: "They [police] took my child for medical tests but I was not happy with certain questions they asked her. I think I failed my daughter, I should have been there to protect her," she said in tears .

The mother said the striker forcefully kissed her daughter last year and this traumatised her.

"I had to take her to a psychologist for counselling. I asked her to press a sexual harassment case against him but she was not willing to do so and the psychologist implored me to not force her to do so.

"Now this. He had no right to rape my daughter and I want him to rot in jail for this," she said.

The girl's mother, who lives with the child in the south of Joburg, has implored Police Minister Bheki Cele to intervene and remove the investigating officers from the case, but he could not be reached for comment.

She said they failed to arrest him and also failed to keep her abreast of developments.

She also alleged that police misled the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) when it wanted to know about the progress of the case.

The cops allegedly said that they still wanted to obtain a statement from her before they could send a case to the NPA for a decision on whether to prosecute or not, but the girl's mother had filed her affidavit on the same day the case was opened.

Gauteng police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini confirmed the police were investigating a case of statutory rape but failed to respond to allegations that police were dragging their feet.

"The incident happened on the 30th March 2018 and was reported in May 2018. Investigation on the matter is still continuing and once finalised, it will be discussed with the prosecutor for a decision," he said.

Spokeswoman for the NPA South Gauteng Phindi Mjonondwane said: "The docket is still with the police for investigation and we will attend to it once it has been brought."

According to the girl's affidavit, seen by Sunday World, the schoolgirl went to Centurion with her mother to have lunch at her grandmother's house.

She said that the player, who is dating one of the daughters of an aunt, arrived and offered her alcohol but she rejected it.

Later, her cousin asked his younger sister to massage his sore back. Then he asked her to take over as his sister was not massaging him firmly enough.

"When I had finished, [the player] asked me to massage his back too ... [he] said I'm really good. At first I was hesitant because he tried to kiss me the previous time we had a family lunch. So, touching him gave me a feeling of discomfort and struck me with fear but, because I didn't want to tell them about it, because my mom knew already, I just massaged him anyway.

"Everyone has been drinking and [name withheld] has been a mixologist for the evening," she said.

She said the soccer star and his girlfriend slept on a double mattress and she slept on a single one in the same room.

"I was in a light sleep when I felt someone move onto my mattress. I woke and realised it was [name withheld] ... He then started touching my breasts and I tried to push his hands off me but my hands couldn't lift them.

"He pulled my pyjama shorts with my underwear and slipped his hand under my neck to my mouth to cover it," she said.

She gives graphic details about what the soccer star allegedly did and how she later went to the bathroom and then joined her mother in bed.

Pirates spokesman Floyd Mbele could not be reached for comment. "I have no comment," said the star.

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