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For several months, a KuGompo City mother has been making long and costly trips to court in the hope of seeing progress in the rape case involving her 11-year-old son.
Instead, she says, each visit ends the same way. She does not get a meaningful update.
Court proceedings had repeatedly been delayed after the two women accused of raping her child allegedly failed to appear for their bail hearings, the 29-year-old mother said.
“My child is struggling in school because he is afraid of women.
“I am constantly called to the school because he is not coping academically and struggles to socialise with other children.
“It is emotionally draining to keep travelling to court and hear that nothing has happened.
“I live far away and depend on public transport. Every trip costs money and takes a toll on me mentally.”
The woman’s son was allegedly raped on November 2 2025, after being lured into a shack while playing with friends in an informal settlement near the King Phalo Airport.
The last time the Dispatch covered the case, the suspects, aged 27 and 29, had abandoned their bail applications in the magistrate’s court and the matter was postponed on January 5 for further investigation.
A community member, who has been closely following the matter, said the suspects made another appearance in February.
The NPA did not respond to a request on Thursday afternoon for an update on the case.
The families of other child rape complainants in the Eastern Cape also expressed frustration at the slow pace of their cases.
According to figures released by community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha in response to a parliamentary question from DA MPL Yusuf Cassim, more than half of the child rape cases reported in the province during the 2025/2026 financial year remained unresolved by year-end.
The province recorded 175 child murders during the financial year, up from 155 the previous year, an increase of nearly 13%.
A total of 2,103 child rape cases and 160 child abuse cases were also reported.
By the end of the financial year, 1,214 child rape cases, 80 child murder cases and 65 child abuse cases remained unresolved or under investigation.
Only 271 successful child rape prosecutions were recorded from the 2,103 rape cases reported during the period.
The figures revealed that 211 rape victims were aged between one and five years old, 456 were between five and 10, 689 were between 10 and 15, and 744 were between 15 and 18.
The grim statistics were released two months after the abduction, rape and murder of seven-year-old Kenisha Thompson in Kugompo City shocked the province.
Kenisha disappeared from her Parkside neighbourhood in April before her body was discovered at a dumpsite, sparking widespread outrage and renewed concerns about child safety.
In Maladini village near Qumbu, a grandfather said his six-year-old granddaughter now lived in fear after the man accused of raping her was released when the case was withdrawn.
“The suspect was apprehended by community members in December last year and [allegedly] admitted to raping my granddaughter,” he said.
“He was arrested, but later we found out he had been released after the case was withdrawn.”
The incident has left deep emotional scars.
The child’s mother, he said, had turned to alcohol and was now struggling to take care of her daughter.
“My granddaughter is afraid to play outside because she fears she might see the man again,” he said.
“No child deserves to go through what she went through. The incident has changed her life completely.”
In another case in Qumbu, a family is pursuing justice for a seven-year-old girl who allegedly suffered repeated sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather over several years.
According to her aunt, the alleged abuse began when the child was about four years old and continued for three years before she eventually disclosed what had happened.
“The man would allegedly rape her whenever her mother was away from home,” she said.
“We only learnt about it this year when she finally told us what had been happening.”
The family said they managed to convince the girl’s mother to report a criminal complaint but were shocked when she later paid bail for the accused.
“She said she loved him and had forgiven him,” the aunt said.
“Meanwhile, the child’s health has been severely affected, and we are trying to get as much help as possible for her.”
Cassim said the statistics represented children whose safety, dignity and childhood had been violently stolen.
He has called for a turnaround strategy aimed at reducing unresolved cases, strengthening investigations, improving victim support services and enhancing co-ordination between police, prosecutors, social workers, schools, healthcare facilities and Thuthuzela Care Centres.
The provincial government attributed unsuccessful prosecutions to challenges including delayed reporting, the absence of witnesses and difficulties experienced when child victims were unable to testify.
Nqatha said curbing crimes against children remained a priority for the government.
“The grave concern of crimes committed against children is top on the provincial government’s programme of action.
“The justice cluster has ensured successful arrests, prosecutions and convictions where evidence exists,” he said.
While a slight decline was recorded in the number of reported rapes during the fourth quarter of the 2025/2026 financial year, child protection activists warned that the province remained in the grip of a gender-based violence crisis.
According to the latest national crime statistics released by police minister Cachalia Firoz, rape cases in the Eastern Cape decreased from 1,636 between January and March 2025 to 1,486 in the same period this year — by 150 fewer cases.
However, the national figures reveal the disturbing reality that sexual violence continues to occur predominantly in spaces where victims should feel safest.
Nearly half of all rapes reported nationally during the quarter — 4,620 of the 9,782 cases recorded — took place either at the home of the victim or that of the perpetrator.
Eastern Cape social development MEC Bukiwe Fanta raised alarm over department figures showing that 3,168 child abuse cases had been reported to her department in the 2025/2026 period.
These included 1,369 cases of deliberate neglect, 1,328 cases of sexual abuse, 279 cases of physical abuse, 153 cases of emotional abuse and 35 cases involving abandoned children.
The highest number of sexual abuse cases, 366, was recorded in the Alfred Nzo district, followed by OR Tambo with 362, the Nelson Mandela Bay metro (278) and Chris Hani district (136).
“These figures are not just numbers; they represent innocent lives lost, families shattered and communities in deep mourning,” Fanta said.
Masimanyane Women’s Rights International founder Dr Lesley-Ann Foster described the statistics as “really horrific”.
“The murders are exceptionally high, the rapes are high and the ages of the children are alarmingly low.
“Starting at one year old right up to 17 years old is just terrible,” she said.
Children’s rights activist Petros Majola said the government could not tackle the crisis alone and called for an urgent provincial roundtable involving all stakeholders.
“Child safety and protection is not only the responsibility of one department.
“Families and communities have a major role to play because many of these incidents happen while children are at home or within the communities where they live,” he said.
Majola said unresolved cases often deepened the trauma experienced by victims and their families.
Daily Dispatch
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