Buyisiwe was gang raped on the 2 October 2005. The accused persons in the rape case have been out on bail since 2006, leaving Buyisiwe and her community vulnerable to further acts of violence. It is now nearly 4 years later and Buyisiwe is still fighting for justice from the South African courts as she now faces this 23rd postponement of the case.
Sentencing for the 7 men who gang raped Buyisiwe on the 2 October 2005 was supposed to take place on the 8 July 2009. We have learnt from the prosecutor in the matter that the case will most likely be postponed tomorrow. We have been informed that the reason for this is that Social Workers from the Department of Social Development have not yet completed the pre-sentencing assessments of the perpetrators. It is not clear how long it will take the Department of Social Development to complete these reports, and when the matter will be brought back before the court.
This is outrageous and so discouraging for rape survivors knowing it may takes years for their cases to come to trial. And even then there does not appear to be any conviction by the courts to obtain justice for survivors of rape and hate crimes despite one in 4 men admitting to being rapist in South Africa.
