It has been eight years and the case against a hajji accused of raping four little girls in Salt River is still nowhere near ending at the Cape Town Regional Court.
On Thursday, the mother of two of the girls revealed her one daughter, who is now 17, had withdrawn her case against Riedewaan George, 56, after waiting nearly a decade for
justice.
George, whose arm was badly burnt, made a brief appearance in court where he heard his trial would resume on March 2 as the prosecutor was absent.
George was facing nine counts of rape and sexual assault involving four girls between the ages of eight and 11 years old.
The girls were his neighbours in Salt River.
Prosecutors are set to prove George allegedly threatened the children, some with a firearm before allegedly raping them inside his home between April and August 2012.
George was busted in September 2012 and is out on R5000 bail.
He has been banned from entering the Salt River area.
On Thursday, the 49-year-old mother of two of his alleged victims said she was disgusted at the slow pace of the case: “My one daughter will be 18 this year and she withdrew her case last year because of all the postponements.
“The one victim is married and has a baby. My other daughter is 16 and is yet to testify.
“I didn’t even know he was at court (yesterday) and this year is the eighth year after they disclosed what happened to them.
“With all the rape and murder of children in this country, this is just ridiculous.”