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Six years later, Mpumalanga domestic worker still waiting for her rape case against employer to be resolved

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A 44-year-old domestic worker from Piet Retief Mpumalanga, who was allegedly raped by her former employer, will have to wait a little longer for the case to be finalised. This, after the Piet Retief Magistrate’s Court again postponed the case of rape against her former employer, Peter Swart.

Swart has denied the rape allegations.

As the country celebrates Women’s Month, the 44-year-old rape survivor, who cannot be named for her safety is yet to find closure, following the rape incident that allegedly took place in 2014.

The case she opened against her former employer has been pending for almost six years now. She says she was not only raped but also assaulted by the wife of the suspect after she told her about the alleged rape incident.

The assault charge against the wife of the suspect was provisionally withdrawn by the state.

NPA Spokesperson, Monica Nyuswa, explains why the case has dragged on for so long. “The delay in the finalisation of the matter is simply because of the review application brought by the difference in the matter. This is after there was a technical glitch regarding the labelling of blood in the matter, where the boyfriend name was written instead of the accused person’s name. The matter was taken for review in High Court and two dates were set. One date was in April and the other date we had was in July. So due to COVID-19, we could not proceed but we now have a provisional date which is the 17 of November 2020.”

The victim says the only thing she yearns for is justice.

“I don’t know what is happening with the case. I opened it in 2014. Now, it has been changed to 2015. I really do not understand what is happening. I opened two cases including the assault against the wife. I hope justice will take place.”

Chairperson of the organisation, Project Dignity Foundation, Lindiwe Ntuli-Tloubatla has called on society to rally behind the victim and other ill-treated domestic workers around their communities.

“All we are saying is that it is painful. You were raped in 2014 and you had to deal with the pain of being raped, of being violated. You had to deal with trauma and we know that that type of violation is the worst thing that can happen to a human being and a woman in particular. What makes it painful is that the case was reported in 2014. The processes of justice concerning this case started in 2014 and we are now in August 2020. The case is still pending. You can imagine the pain this woman is going through because the case has not been resolved.”

The case against Peter Swart was postponed to the 24th of November for a High Court review.

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