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A woman claimed to have been raped by a swimming coach.
- A KZN woman opened a rape case against a prominent SA swimming coach.
- The rape allegedly took place in 1979, when she was 10 years old.
- The woman claims an investigation was completed in September, but the SSA refuses to publish the findings.
A woman who opened a rape case against a prominent SA swimming coach is pleading with Swimming SA (SSA) to release the results of an investigation it says it conducted into her allegations.
During a briefing with the activism group Women and Men Against Child Abuse (WMACA) on Tuesday, the 50-year-old woman spoke about the sexual abuse she suffered more than 40 years ago.
This month, he finally opened a case against the coach for a rape that allegedly took place in 1979, when he was 10 years old.
She said:
“People think that you just decided 41 years later that it is a good thing to do; that today you will show up because you have nothing better to do. I have news for you. I have lived with this abuse every day of my life. it has affected in many ways. ”
According to the woman, she informed the head of the SSA about her ordeal, and in August this year an investigation was launched, carried out by an independent lawyer.
According to the woman, she has been trying to access the report’s findings, after she testified in the investigation, but without success.
Letter
He also read a confirmation letter from a psychologist he was seeing in 2003, who told him, without revealing any identifying information, that he had treated two girls who made the same rape accusations against the coach.
In her letter, the psychologist said that she had done this because it would help her heal.
Sport24 reported that the man, through his lawyers, had denied the allegations and that the SSA would launch an investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse.
READ | Swimming SA embroiled in alleged sexual abuse scandal
However, the woman claims that the investigation concluded in September.
“The [the head of the SSA] I instituted an investigation with a lawyer in Durban, whom I had to find. He called several witnesses to check for a prima facie case against Mr. X, “said the woman.
Meanwhile, police spokesman Capt. Nqobile Gwala said the woman’s file had been transferred to a higher prosecutor for a decision on the prosecution.
Case
“The Pinetown FCS Unit is investigating a rape case. The complainant alleges that, in 1979 and 1980, she was raped by a known suspect while at Cowies Hill. The file was taken to [a] senior prosecutor for a decision, “Gwala said.
Luke Lamprecht, WMACA defense manager, said they had also tried to get the SSA president to forward the report to authorities.
“The big problem is that we understand that this independent legal investigation happened, and that this independent investigation found that there should be an independent judicial investigation,” Lamprecht said.
When asked about the investigation, the SSA referred News24 to a statement issued last week.
“The SSA is conducting its own investigation to determine whether members are violating the organization’s policies and code of conduct. Until the investigation is complete, no further public comment will be made,” its statement said.
