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4h ago
Karishma Dipa, Sameer Naik and Norman Cloete
A prominent swimming coach is accused of sexually assaulting girls as young as 10 since he was 13. Two women, now 50, have opened a sexual assault case at the Pinetown Police Station in Durban.
The women claimed they were sexually groomed by the swimming legend in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The man’s identity is known to the Saturday Star, but is being withheld to protect the identity of his alleged victims.
The women said their decision to accuse the man now was intended to prevent him from doing the same to other girls.
“He has sentenced me to life imprisonment, the damage he has done me is eternal,” said the sole complainant. She was a member of the same Durban swim club as the man.
His mother had been his coach.
“He promised to become an Olympic champion and my mother was so excited at the prospect that she seized the opportunity and decided to move our entire family against their will to Westville.”
She said the sexual abuse began with fondling and progressed to full intercourse.
“He was threatening me that if I didn’t do what he wanted, his mother would kick me out of the squad,” the woman told the Saturday Star.
He said his ordeal lasted about six years.
“He told me that I should show that I liked putting his penis in my mouth and if I said no, he told me that he would tell his mother and that she would not train me anymore.”
The woman said she tried to commit suicide when she was 17 years old.
“Nobody wants to listen to me,” he said this week, “because everyone loves him.”
The second woman had a similar story to tell.
She said that she was also trained by her mother several decades ago. He claims he was about 11 years old when the abuse started.
“At first, I was somewhat flattered by his attention because I was so young and I didn’t know any better and he was such a popular and handsome guy.”
“I was close friends with his sister, so he was always close. He often drew me to quiet places and played with my private parts, ”he said.
“One day we were in the pool and he asked me if (his penis) had gotten in and he was so scared that I said yes.”
The man responded to the allegations through his lawyers, Livingston Leandy in Umhlanga, Durban. Mohamed Mota, in an email sent to Saturday Star, said: “Mr. …… is not aware of 3 women (sic) having made accusations claiming that they were sexually assaulted by Mr. … .. as your coach. Your inquiry has no basis in fact and is denied. The publication of this accusation is illegal and defamatory of the good name, reputation and reputation of our client. “
Luke Lamprecht, Child Protection and Development Specialist for Women and Men Against Child Abuse, helped the women press charges against the man.
He said a third case was still being investigated that could be added to the charge sheet in due course.
Saturday Star believes that it is not the first time that complaints have been made against the technician and that, in fact, a report has been written about them. Yesterday, Swimming South Africa CEO Shaun Adriaanse denied knowledge of the existence of such a report.
“I don’t know anything and I, as CEO, have not received any complaints. Talk to the president of SwimSA, ”he said in a telephone interview with Saturday Star.
During the interview, Adriaanse accused a Saturday Star reporter of calling Swimming South Africa to offer a bribe to obtain information.
“A colleague informed me that one of his reporters contacted our offices on Thursday night and offered a bribe to obtain information,” Adriaanse said.
When pressed for the reporter’s name, Adriaanse did not comment. and said he would deny ever having spoken to Saturday Star.
“If I had known that you were the one calling, I would not have answered,” he said.
Saturday Star sent an email and a WhatsApp message to Swimming South Africa President Allan Fritz, but received no response.
SASCOC Acting Chief Executive Officer Ravi Govender said the agency was unaware of the allegations against the coach but would now investigate.
“Since this has not been reported to us, as SASCOC, we have a responsibility to check with our Member Federation as well. Also, as SASCOC, we have policies and procedures (the safeguard policy), to be specific, implemented and we see this allegation in a very serious light, ”he said.
The formal complaints to the police coincide with a new safeguarding initiative by legendary South African swimmer Penny Heyns.
The Olympic gold medalist has partnered with various stakeholders to create the Sports Voice app, to encourage athletes of all sports codes to report any form of abuse they may have encountered.
“We have seen a boost from the Larry Nasser case in gymnastics in the United States and other cases of high-profile abuse ranging from the Afghan women’s soccer team to the unfortunate suicide of a South Korean triathlete,” she said. Heyns.
“There have been cases popping up everywhere and somehow we are sitting here in the southern tip of Africa thinking that we are fine. I think this shows us that we are not well. “
“While I can’t comment on this specific case, I think anyone who thinks this is the only situation like this in our sport and specific to my code would be ignorant.”
“Our society is toxic on these issues, so of course that will extend to sport. We owe it to the youth of today to provide them with a safe environment. “
Saturday’s star
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