Olympic champion Wayde van Niekerk’s stepfather has been charged with rape.
Steven Swarts, an athletics coach and deputy president of Athletics Free State (AFS), appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court last Monday and has denied the accusation.
A 21-year-old woman that he coached claims Swarts inserted his finger into her vagina while giving her a deep tissue massage.
She laid the charge at the Park Road Police Station in Bloemfontein, reports the City Press.
Police spokesperson Lorraine Earle said the alleged incident took place at Eunice High School for girls on 25 June.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said Swarts was released on bail of R1 000 and will appear in court again on 3 August.
Swarts, himself a former long-distance athlete, said he gives all his athletes the same deep-tissue massage.
According to reports, he said the groin area is also massaged because this is where the thyroid gland drains.
He reportedly warned the young woman that the massage would feel “odd” and was shocked when he found out about the allegations.
He has since stopped training his athletes, he said.
Swarts told Rapport newspaper that he’s been “coaching children for free for 20 years”.
“I’ve never done anything inappropriate in all that time,” he said, adding that he will allow the law to take its course.
Zinette de Wet, the headmistress of Eunice, said Swarts does not work for the school, but uses its facilities like various other private coaches do.