THINGS got heated at the Ntuzuma Magistrate's Court where the mother of a man who's accused of rape threatened the mother of the victim who's a minor.
The incident happened this week when the 24-year-old accused, who's believed to be a member of the criminal West Gang, appeared in court.
The accused is alleged to have raped a 14-year-old girl in one of the shacks in Ntuzuma last Sunday, March 30.
The incident happened when the girl was sent to a nearby house to deliver a message.
Speaking outside court, a relative of the girl said, "On her way to the house, she came across the accused, who asked her to call the mother of his baby for him. She said she left them (the accused and the mother of his baby) talking and proceeded to go where she was initially sent," said the relative.
"The victim, on her return, came across the accused again, and he asked, "Little girl, you are still here?"
He then instructed her to change directions and threatened to set a pack of dogs that was with him on her.
"It is alleged he picked her up and put her on his shoulders and headed to his shack. He put her inside through the window as he claimed that he had forgotten his keys somewhere," said the relative.
The accused, according to the relative, also entered through the window and proceeded to rape the victim and let her out through the window.
The mother of the victim informed the father of the girl, who arrived with his relatives and took the victim, and they all went to search for the accused. The accused was found hanging out with friends in the street. They took him and handed him over to the police.
The relative said the victim's family was devastated, as the girl was a proud maiden who attended virginity testing ceremonies and the incident has been extremely harmful to her mental health.
The incident is particularly distressing to the family, as they also had another young relative who was raped in 2022, and the accused was acquitted on grounds of insufficient evidence.
Meanwhile inside the courtroom this week, the mother of the accused shouted in the direction of EFF members who had come to support the victim's family, "When you do something as part of a crowd, you might find yourself in trouble when you are alone and confronted about what you were doing."
Looking in the direction of the victim's mother, she said it doesn't help to rely on money, as it doesn't last, and eventually everyone becomes equal.
Those in attendance interpreted her outburst to be directed at the victim's family, who are considered to be affluent in the community.
The mother of the accused was stopped by the investigating officer of the case, who reprimanded her for threatening the victim's mother.
After the court had adjourned, the brother of the accused started threatening the victim's mother again, telling her that even when they are being followed by white (Toyota) Etioses, they don't care and have no fear.
When a member of the EFF intervened and asked the accused's brother to say whatever he wanted to say to the victim's mother in front of them, he walked away.
The magistrate adjourned the case to Tuesday for the State to verify the accused's address for a bail application.
Mandla Ngubane, the EFF Youth Command in the North Central Sub-region, said the rampant incidents of rape of young girls had made them join the protest.
"We've decided to focus on this case because we don't want it to be dismissed like the other one (the 2022 case). We want to show the community that we are against what happened," said Ngubane.
He said incidents like these make parents fearful about the safety of their girl children, and he said they were concerned that the accused is a member of the West Gang who also sells drugs.
He said they're opposed to the bail, as the accused has shown that the community is not safe with him around.