Trial begins for men accused of raping women at Khayelitsha church
The rape and assault trial against two men who allegedly raped women at a Khayelitsha church has commenced.
Nineteen mothers and their children had spent the night at Zion Church in Site C during the Easter Weekend of April 2023.
Accused Yamkela Jobo and Okuhle Beya allegedly barged into the shack while the victims were sleeping, forcing the congregants to perform oral sex on them.
The pair pleaded not guilty to the 21 charges against them at the beginning of the trial at the Khayelitsha Regional Court.
The first witness took the stand on Tuesday morning, and was cross examined by the defence.
She relived the horrific day and said: “It was around 4am and there was load shedding. A woman in the church indicated that someone was at the door. We saw through the opening that there was someone indeed.
“They forced their way in. We tried to close it, but they pushed the door. Their faces were covered at the time.
“They then entered, blew out candles and the other one switched off the light. And then it was dark inside the church.
“They had demanded phones and insulted us. We didn’t immediately hand the items over, some of us hid them. They then said there’s church money and there are cellphones.”
She added that when the lights were back on, she could see who the accused were.
“Accused number 1 is the one who instructed me to do things - he was wearing black.
“After giving them what they wanted, we thought they were going to leave, but that was not the case. They told us to undress.
“The one with the blue overalls called us one by one and undressed us. One had a knife and one had a gun. And threatened us to use it on us. I was one of the people who went to them then.
“I said I have a cellphone, I just had to look for it. The one who was wearing a blue overall assisted in looking for the phone. It’s when people also gave them phones and someone gave the church money.”
The nightmare had just begun for the congregants.
The witness added: “While the clothes were taken off, he was touching me, even my private parts. When they were done, they instructed everyone to lay on the ground.
“They told us to pretend like the church service was still on, and asked who could play the drums.
“The one wearing black took off his clothes and instructed me to suck his penis,” she said as she got emotional.
The trial will continue on Monday until next Thursday.
Action Society organisation said they hoped for swift justice to be served against the accused.
Spokesperson Kaylynn Palm said: “We are happy that the trial has finally started. It has been a long process for the women involved in this particular case. We will continue supporting the victims.
“On Tuesday, it was a very emotional day for the woman who took the stand. She bravely told the court what happened to her. She is still traumatised by what happened. We hope the process will go smoothly and that ultimately these ladies will get justice. What happened to them is extremely bad, shocking and unexplainable.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za