The Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) have distanced themselves from alleged child rapist Raphael Martin and labelled him as an “enemy agent”.
This follows the court appearance of the 53-year-old suspect who is a City of Cape Town subcouncil manager and former Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) freedom fighter who appeared at Mitchells Plain Magistrates’ Court this week.
Martin’s arrest caused a stir among activists who said they trusted the popular subcouncil manager in their homes, but got a skrik when a Strandfontein girl, 13, reported the rape.
Her distraught family told the Daily Voice that they were left traumatised after she revealed that Martin had been raping her for three years.
Medical reports confirmed the child had been sodomised.
MKMVA spokesperson Carl Niehaus says they are deeply shocked by the reports, but says the alleged rapist was exposed as an “enemy agent” in the late 1980s.
SHOCK: MKMVA’s Carl Niehaus
“Media reports that the alleged rapist is a former Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) member, needs to be contextualised,” he said.
“The alleged rapist, whose name we are not at liberty to reveal in order to protect the identity of the child victim, infiltrated MK in the late 1980s, but he was exposed as an enemy agent and ostracized. From 1990 onwards all contact with him was severed.
“MKMVA calls for the law to take its course, and for the police and NPA to ensure that justice is swift and speedily delivered, without any delays.
“If the suspect is found guilty the harshest possible sentence must be imposed.”
Martin is set to return to court on Monday and remanded in custody.