SIYABONGA SITHOLE
ActionSA president Herman Mashaba has written to Minister of Police Bheki Cele requesting that he names and shames the production company that was involved in shooting a music video at West Village in Krugersdorp two weeks ago. Mashaba says the letter addressed to the minister and his provincial commissioner, Elias Mawela, is an attempt to get to the bottom of what really happened when eight young women were gang-raped by illegal miners believed to be from Lesotho.
More than 84 zama zamas were subsequently arrested following a joint operation after the rape incident. The suspects are expected to make their third court appearance at the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court later today. Their appearance comes after Cele, on the weekend, reported that the DNA testing on the suspects had been completed. He added that those responsible would finally be linked to the rapes. The victims were part of the production company that was shooting the video on the day of the incident.
“Indeed, the company responsible for the production of the music video ought to have provided the necessary security measures to ensure the protection of life and limb of the participants of this production. Particularly because the area is notorious for its dangerous and illicit activity,” Mashaba said.
The former mayor of Johannesburg said the party respected the privacy of the victims but believed that the truth about the production company would go a long way towards ensuring accountability.
He said the party did not believe the company had “a reasonable expectation of privacy and that steps should be taken to halt its activity pending the outcome of the ongoing investigations to assess whether any security measures were put in place”.
Mashaba is of the view that the production company should be held liable for the safety of the young women as they were the company's responsibility, adding that the shoot did not take their safety into consideration when it decided to continue shooting a music video in the middle of the night in such a dangerous part of Krugersdorp.
“I wrote a letter to the minister of SAPS this morning, asking him to provide the name of company and its owners behind this music production. We hope to hear from the minister in seven days,” he said.