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WARNING: This article contains graphic details.
- Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, a medical doctor, has weighed in on the rape of eight woman at a mine dump in Krugersdorp.
- He said it reminded him of an incident 20 years ago when he had to perform reconstructive surgery on an 8-year-old rape victim.
- Motsoaledi called for harsher punishment for perpetrators of sexual violence.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi was overcome with emotion when he spoke about how the alleged rape of eight women shooting a music video at a mine dump in Krugersdorp, Gauteng, had awakened his traumatic memories.
On Saturday, Motsoaledi, a qualified medical doctor, broke down in tears and had to briefly pause an interview with News24. He told News24 that the women's ordeal reminded him of an incident 20 years ago when he had to perform reconstructive surgery on an 8-year-old girl who had been brutally raped by her uncle.
"It's heartbreaking to hear of such incidents of sexual assault," said Motsoaledi, adding that the news "tears" one apart.
"Every time you hear about these incidents, you think about your own daughters. I only have daughters, and you start thinking, 'How would I react if it happens to my daughter?'
"We can't allow this culture to happen. I don't even wish it on my worst enemy. It's something that is terrible. Maybe it's because of my own training as a medical doctor. I remember when I was still practising in the rural areas of Limpopo, an 8-year-old girl came in having been raped by her uncle," said Motsoaledi.
He went on to say the girl had been "destroyed", and that "it took me three hours in [the] theatre trying to put what was damaged together".
"Her private parts were completely mauled. I had to sit down and remember my classes on anatomy. When I came out of that theatre [I] was emotionally finished.
"Even now, it's been 20 years..., but the face of that young girl still haunts me. She was looking at me completely confused and could not understand what was happening to her and who I was. She was looking at me in the eyes, trying to find answers that I did not have," said Motsoaledi as he broke down in tears.
READ | 65 arrested following women's rape, robbery at music video shoot in Krugersdorp
He said even more heartbreaking was that when he finished the operation, he found the child's mother outside sitting with a man who she introduced as her brother and the child's uncle.
"She [the mother] said, 'Doctor, this is my brother; please do not report him because we are financially dependent on him'. This further broke my heart," said Motsoaledi.
Motsoaledi said the arrests of the alleged perpetrators of the rapes and robberies in Krugersdorp on Friday should not be misinterpreted as South Africa being xenophobic. He said it should be seen as "law enforcement doing their job".
Police arrested 65 people on Friday, and 17 more people were arrested on Saturday, bringing the number of arrests to 82.
They face charges of contravening the Immigration Act.
Two alleged perpetrators were fatally shot after allegedly pointing firearms during police operations.
Two unlicensed firearms, explosives, as well as other items belonging to the victims have since been recovered.
The alleged perpetrators were arrested in connection with the ambush on 22 people aged 19 to 35, which consisted of 10 men and 12 women who were on the mine dump to film a music video.
It's alleged that a group of armed men covered in blankets ordered everyone to lie down and proceeded to rape eight of the women and rob every one of their belongings before fleeing the scene.
