SOUTH AFRICA'S TV WEBSITE
SIGN IN SEARCH MENU
SOUTH AFRICA'S TV WEBSITE


Prelude For A Paedophile (3 June)

Written by TVSA Team from the blog Special Assignment on 03 Jun 2008
Favourite this post


On Special Assignment this Tuesday:

Episode Title: Prelude For A Paedophile
Date: Tuesday, 3 June, 2008
Time: 21h30
Channel: SABC 3

special_assignment_large

Last week was Child Protection week but in South Africa the term child protection has become a tragic contradiction in terms, particularly with regard to sexual abuse.

According to Childline one in four girls and one in five boys under the age of 16 have been sexually assaulted. This is inevitably a conservative estimate given the horrifyingly low rate of reports.

The recent passing of the Amended Sexual Offences Act has succeeded in broadening the definition of rape to include penetration of any orifice, male or female. Previously, rape of males was regarded as indecent assault and carried a much lighter sentence but the reality is that everyday on the streets of Cape Town, young boys are being raped and underage survivors rarely speak out. They are silenced by shame and disbelieving adults.

The injustice is compounded when the victims are boys who live on the streets and the perpetrators are men who are educated, ostensibly respected members of society.

This week Special Assignment exposes a sexual predator allegedly with a predilection for underage street boys. His strategy allegedly is to drive through areas where the homeless boys congregate to lure them with promises of food, clothing or cash.

Often he solicits the assistance of older male prostitutes to recruit the youngsters, allegedly taking them to his home to ply them with drugs while showing them pornography before sexually abusing them.

Alternatively he allegedly cruises the streets of Cape Town, picks them up and drives them to remote areas, abuses them and then unceremoniously dumps them - most of them between the ages of eleven and fifteen.

In the past two years at least seven boys have come forward. They have made statements to the police, the details of which have been verified by security companies operating in Cape Town’s CBD. Yet for two years, little has been done to apprehend the alleged offender, possibly because police resources are increasingly limited; more disturbingly, because they are reluctant to charge an adult of stature whose accusers are children of the streets.

With the assistance of committed children’s rights activists, Special Assignment has searched for and found the children, persuading them to speak openly about the trauma of being raped.

Prelude For A Paedophile is written and produced by Hazel Friedman.

-----



Comments


Only TVSA members can reply to this thread. Click here to login or register.






LATEST ARTICLES

Kelders van Geheime: Veronique vs Hermien - only one can be victorious

Hermien plays her game with falcon-eyed precision - and for Veronique, it leads to a humiliation she never saw coming.


Impak! Teasers - October 2025

Eyes are out for the mole, plans are in motion to get the video and Veli has something up his sleeve.


New on TV today: Wednesday 17 September 2025

Top Guns: The Next Generation begins on Nat Geo and musical comedy Electric Bloom drops on Disney+.


Genesis character portrait: Vuyo Biyela as Lizwi Phakathi

Pssst... have you heard? This new guy from the overseas has a ring in his pocket.


Bloedspoor Teasers - October 2025

There's a body in a car and Ilgaz is sure that Cinar is hiding something.


New on TV today: Tuesday 16 September 2025

The Last Rhinos: A New Hope airs on Disney+ and BBC Earth follows cutting-edge surgeons in a new series.


2025 Emmy Awards: Biggest snub, biggest win, biggest eyeroll

We love it when a plan comes together. A wrap of the wins in key categories and our special awards.


Scandal! Teasers - October 2025

Ephraim's woes at the butchery continue when a helper is put under pressure to sabotage him.


New on TV today: Monday 15 September 2025

The 2025 Emmy Awards air live and repeated on M-Net and Welcome to Plathville returns to TLC.


New on TV today: Sunday 14 September 2025

Celebrity Race Across the World returns on BBC Earth and Home Channel fires up Jamie's Easy Meals for Every Day.

LATEST SITE ACTIVITY


More activity at TVSA Central



,

LATEST SOAPIE TEASERS


,

LATEST SOAPIE TEASERS




×
×

You browser doesn't have Flash, Silverlight, Gears, BrowserPlus or HTML5 support.