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PHOTO / ILLUSTRATION: David Prado, Getty Images
- A woman appears to have been sexually assaulted by a cleaner while in isolation at a quarantine facility in Mossel Bay.
- The Western Cape Department of Transportation and Public Works confirmed the incident, saying that the alleged perpetrator would not be allowed to return even if found not guilty.
- A security guard at the facility said patients must be protected.
A woman was allegedly sexually assaulted while in isolation at a Covid-19 quarantine facility in Mossel Bay, Western Cape on Friday, the province’s department of transportation and public works confirmed.
Speaking to News24, the department’s communications chief, Jandré Bakker, said the alleged perpetrator was a cleaner at the facility.
He said the victim had since been removed from the quarantine site and taken to a safe place where he was receiving support.
The suspect was also removed from the scene and charged by the South African Police Service (SAPS), Bakker said.
He added that the incident was upsetting for the department, as they had appointed a facilities management company that hired security and cleaning services for the quarantine site.
“They have very strict rules that state that none of the staff enters [of the rooms] or has any contact with any of the patients in the rooms, not even when cleaning.
“When cleaning is done, patients leave the rooms, take them away, and the rooms are thoroughly cleaned [and] disinfected before they return, so there is no contact.
“That’s why this is such a strange situation for us, because they were never supposed to have contact,” Bakker said.
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He said that even if the alleged perpetrator was found innocent, he would not be allowed to return to the site.
He added: “Even if the investigation shows that it was not a sexual assault, it was a consensual matter, the person still violated the rule that says there is no contact with patients, and we see it in an extremely serious way.”
The rules, he said, were there to protect patients and employees from a health and safety perspective.
He added that strict security measures were in place at the quarantine site, saying that this matter was an isolated case.
When asked if the department conducted background checks on the people it named, Bakker said that another company had been appointed to do this work on his behalf.
“All checks [indicated] That this person has no prior convictions, he is a star employee and that is why he takes us by surprise.
“Obviously we are not going to have the person tried and found guilty by social media or whatever, however we still maintain that even if there was no sexual contact, it is still unacceptable,” he said.
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A security guard who worked at the facility and wished to remain anonymous, came forward to expose the incident and said the woman was raped.
He said security at the facility was tight, with guards patrolling the site, as well as the entrances and exits of the facility.
“It is not high security, but it is a safe place. Nobody can enter and leave without being detected,” he said, adding that security guards did not have access to certain areas while the alleged perpetrator, as a cleaner, did.
However, he added that patients must be protected against cases like this because “there are men, women and children, all patients, sometimes in the place, walking.”
“We know so many cases [in South Africa]… action must be taken against abusers of women and children, “he said.
She explained that cases of abuse against women and children were exposed every day, yet nothing seemed to be happening to the perpetrators and she expressed concern that this would be a similar case.
SAPS did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication; your comment will be added once received.
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