South Africa: 21 of 81 Suspects in Gang Rape ID’d as Children, Most Illegal Mozambique Migrants

South African authorities charged 14 men with rape this week in connection with the brutal gang rape of eight women at an abandoned mine near Krugersdorp on July 28, the South African news channel Newzroom Afrika reported on Thursday, noting that the “majority” of the suspects charged with rape on Thursday are illegal migrants “from Mozambique.”

South Africa’s National Prosecution Authority (NPA) charged seven men with “multiple counts of rape, sexual assault and robbery with aggravating circumstances” on August 10 in connection with the July 28 incident, South Africa’s Eyewitness News (EWN) reported. An additional seven suspects in the gang rape were also charged the next day, August 11, according to a separate video report by Newzroom Afrika, bringing the total number of men charged with rape in the case so far to 14.

EWN noted on Wednesday that the seven men charged with rape that day “form part of a group of eighty-one, who were originally arrested on charges of being in the country illegally.” The news outlet revealed that one of the males charged with rape on August 10 “alleges he is only 15. He is yet to undergo an age assessment.”

Newzroom Afrika reported that the “majority” of the men charged with rape in the case on Thursday identified themselves as “from Mozambique” during an appearance at the Krugersdorp Magistrates court that afternoon.

The suspects “were able to confirm their nationalities […] the majority of them are from Mozambique, one from Lesotho, and as well as one South African,” Newzroom Afrika reporter Malungelo Booi stated while standing outside the Krugersdorp Magistrates court on August 11.

EWN further noted on August 10 that, of the 81 suspects arrested in the wake of the July gang rape, “[t]wenty-one […] have since emerged as minors. They are now appearing in the children’s courts. The remaining 60 are making their third appearances in the dock on Wednesday.”

South African authorities arrested 81 suspects in the immediate aftermath of the July 28 gang rape outside Krugersdorp. None of the suspects were charged with rape until this week, however, as the majority of them were initially detained on suspicion of illegal immigration. Authorities in South Africa suspect that a gang of mainly illegal migrants was responsible for the hours-long mass rape of eight women aged 19 to 37 years old last month while the women —mainly hired models — tried to film a music video at an abandoned mining facility. The men, according to the accounts of some of the victims, encircled the women while firing guns into the air and subsequently initiated a horrific gang rape of the group that lasted approximately four hours.

“One of those eight women was raped by 10 different men,” Newzroom Afrika reporter Malungelo Booi revealed on August 11 moments after speaking with an NPA spokeswoman outside the Krugersdorp Magistrates court.