In just six months in 2025, more than 1,600 vulnerable children in the Eastern Cape had to be moved from their homes and housed at various places of safety by the provincial government. They had been victims of rape and physical abuse, mostly at the hands of their relatives and loved ones. This while 844 other children were placed in foster care, in the period between April and September, for reasons that included abandonment, deliberate neglect, sexual and physical abuse, taking the total of those in the foster care system to 44,363.
Such children had, in recent years, been moved to foster care after court orders. This is revealed in the social development department’s mid-year report, which covers the period between April and September 2025, and was tabled before Bhisho legislature in December. Among those alleged rape victims is *Iminathi (not her real name) who was a bubbly and talkative 12-year-old girl who excelled in grade 5.
She had been interacting well with her classmates in one of the Eastern Cape villages and also participated in a number of sporting activities. She had dreams of one day becoming a professional nurse, just like her late grandmother. However, her dreams were derailed, as she has now lost interest in her studies and sport, and also became withdrawn from her usual activities.
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Iminathi is a victim of a rape, allegedly at the hands of her stepfather. She has been moved to a place of safety in Buffalo City Metro. Both her mother and stepfather are allegedly alcoholics and substance abusers.
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