The lobby group, Women and Men Against Child Abuse, says it is outraged at the ongoing delays in the trial of a man accused of abusing 11 young boys in Gauteng.
The football coach was due to appear in court on Tuesday but the matter was postponed because the Magistrate was not available and the suspect was demanding a lawyer of colour.
In a lengthy statement the organisation said they spent five hours at court with the child victims who remain traumatised by their ordeal.
Spokesperson, Germaine Vogel, explains what these constant delays mean for the children involved.
'We left the Palmridge Court , angry and frustrated after spending 5 hours waiting for the commencement of the trial involving 11 young boys who have been through therapy and court preparation at our Alexandra Kidz Clinic to proceed. The trail was scheduled to run from Monday 27 July to August 15th. The state must put the needs of child victims before its own needs and before the needs of the perpetrators!' T he emotional and financial costs to child victims and their families are intolerable! The costs to us as an NGO are felt too - days like these and there are too many, throw our budgets out and we are forced to work harder at replenishing our funds putting further pressure on our members to make extra time in providing urgent psycho-social services at our clinics to the growing numbers of children we deal with daily!says Germaine
Vogel also says while they were in court they sat through the start of another case where a 40-year-old Tembisa man, Peter Khoza, is facing 152 charges relating to rape and sexual assault of children.
She says Khoza's reign of terror began in 2007 and ended with his arrested in July 2013.
Vogel says his trial has been set down for 45 days, with 194 witnesses expected to take the stand.
"Khoza's reign of terror against children, the youngest 6 years old, began in 2007 in Lulekani, Limpopo to Tembisa, Ivory Park, Oliphantsfontein, Kliptown, Eldorado Park and Freedom Park. Khoza has been in custody since his arrest on July 11, 2013" she said.
