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By Shakirah Thebus 
9h ago
Cape Town – Two brothers accused of sexually abusing girls years ago still refuse to answer the allegations.
This as a young member of the family has released a second video in which he laments the silence of his Bo-Kaap community for the abuse.
In a video released Sunday, a survivor of an alleged sexual assault by her paternal grandfather from ages 5 to 11, spoke openly about what had happened since her first video circulated last week.
The woman, who currently lives in Jordan, thanked those who had relayed her support online, who by doing so ultimately provided a safe space for her and other survivors.
“When your abusers are well respected, it becomes much more difficult because you don’t feel like there is a safe space to talk about it.
“You don’t feel like you can really be honest about what has happened to you for fear of being called by an attention seeker, a drama queen, saying you have a vivid imagination,” he said in the video. .
The brothers, now 85, and former educators and principals, were charged with sexual assault for more than five decades.
Questions have been raised online about whether some members of the family and community were aware of the alleged assault years earlier.
“Last year my brother went to see an imam in Bo-Kaap, let him know what was going on and asked him what had been done. He is not the only Imam who knows this exact situation, who knew these perpetrators and my situation specifically, and nothing was ever done.
“Unless an Imam is qualified to handle the situation, it is not appropriate to ask an Imam what to do because most of the time he is told to just forgive and forget, move on and that’s it. There is no counseling, ”he said.
The brothers again declined to comment on the allegations.
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