Cops the accused in
four rape cases
Cape Town - A police officer is expected to apply for bail in the Cape
Town Magistrate’s Court on Friday for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in
Camps Bay.
The police officer is one of five officers being investigated by
the Independent Police Investigations Directorate (Ipid) for rapes that were
reported to them this year.
Although Ipid could not divulge the details of the case, its
spokesman, Robbie Raburabu, confirmed that the policeman in question was
Bathini Maqwazima.
Maqwazima made his first appearance in court on Friday.
According to Raburabu, four rape cases had been lodged where
police officers were involved.
Two of the cases were reported in the Western Cape while the
others came from Gauteng and in the Northern Cape.
On an Ipid website which was recommended by Raburabu, it is
reported that a 40-year-old police sergeant and constable had allegedly raped a
19-year-old woman on January 2.
“A 19-year-old victim was having a verbal exchange with her
sister, the parents called the nearest police to assist by removing the victim
for a while as she was under the influence of alcohol and unruly.
“It is alleged that the two policemen took the victim and never
booked her at the police station but rather drove to the bushes where she was
raped and thereafter dropped off and told to go home,” Raburabu explained.
In a similar incident in Upington, a police officer was arrested
and is being investigated by Ipid for allegedly raping two teenage girls.
Raburabu said: “It is alleged that the two victims, aged 13 and
15, were raped on January 2 at a house in Paballelo by a constable based at
Kakamas police station.”
He said the policeman has since appeared in court.
According to the directorate’s website, at least five cases of
rape which implicated police officers were reported to Ipid last year, and at
least one successful conviction and sentencing was reported.
