A 34-year-old Ethiopian tuckshop owner accused of raping a seven year old girl inside his Diepsloot shop, has appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

The magistrate postponed the case to next Thursday, July 25, to allow the state to secure an interpreter fluent in Amharic, the language spoken by the accused.

Speaking to IOL News, the father, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the young girl, said his daughter was raped by the accused last Thursday, July 11. He said the tuckshop owner allegedly enticed his two children - a girl aged seven and a boy, 10, into his shop with snacks.

He said he always gives his children pocket money to buy snacks as they go to school, and they normally stop by the shop to buy snacks.

“On Thursday, they went to the shop as they always do, but the boy started to notice how the tuckshop owner was touching his younger sister in an appropriate way, and told them to come to his shop everyday," he said.

The father said that the children went to the shop the next day as normal to buy snacks, but the young girl had a distressing experience.

"He gave my son R5 after they paid for the snacks, and told the girl to enter the store, and told my son to cover his face as he led the girl inside the store.

“He then began touching the little girl's private parts, and after that he gave her snacks and told them to go straight to the school."

As the days passed, the father said the principal of the school where they attend told them about this incident on Monday.

"The boy told his teacher what happened to his little sister, and the teacher then took the boy outside to talk, and my wife was then called to come to the school as I was at work.

"It surprised me that the boy kept quiet, and when I asked him, he said he was scared to tell us."

He said that the girl was taken to the hospital, and upon arrival they were instructed to open case of rape at Diepsloot police station.

Brigadier Koena Moichela, station commander of Diepsloot police station, confirmed to IOL News that a rape case had been lodged at the station against a 34-year-old Ethiopian tuckshop owner who allegedly raped the a minor girl.

The father said the children's mother collapsed at the police station and was taken to the hospital.

"This thing has really hurt her and I am too, because what he did to my child is horrible and I want to see him rot behind bars,” he said.

Magistrate Hleziphi Mkhasibe postponed the case to next Thursday to allow the state to find an interpreter who understands the accused's language, Amharic.

Dinesh Nandkissort, the state prosecutor, told the court that the accused’s asylum visa expired in March 2022.

However, the accused lawyer, Lawrence Mathonsi, said his client re-applied for the visa online.

After the court appearance, Kgakgamatso Sekoto, a community leader who was part of a Patriotic Alliance contingent represented the family, said that they would be pleased if justice was done.

"They must return home; we do not want them here. All we ask for the court to give us justice once in a lifetime. He must rot in jail," she said.

The accused remains in police custody.

IOL