A well-known surf instructor and businessman accused of raping a number of female tourists who stayed at his surf lodge has been arrested.
The rape allegations against the Hermanus man first surfaced in 2021 after some of the alleged victims reached out to Koleinu SA, an NPO that provides support to victims of abuse. A news agency broke the story in September 2021, quoting two of the alleged victims.
Since then, two more alleged victims have come forward. The latest victim, a young woman from the USA who is staying in South Africa, laid a charge against the suspect, culminating in his arrest on Monday 6 June.
Sources say the police executed an intensive search at the accused’s place of business that lasted approximately four hours.
The man who cannot be named until he has pleaded in court as he is accused of a sexual crime, spent three nights in a cell before he was released on bail of R1 000 on Thursday 9 June. He also had to hand over his passport.
Capt Fadila September, spokesperson for Hermanus police, confirmed the suspect had been arrested on 6 June and he is accused of a number of incidents of alleged rape and/or sexual assault, which took place between 2014 and 2022. “According to reports the victims were all female, from foreign countries, who attended his surf school at different times. It is alleged the accused got them drunk and raped them.”
Rozanne Sack, one of the founding members of Koleinu SA, said her group first became aware of the allegations approximately 18 months ago.
The fact that South African criminal law requires a victim to be in the country when laying a charge, says Sack, is a big problem, as the first two victims to come forward are in the USA and Portugal. “After their story was published in the Daily Maverick,” she said, “a third lady contacted us with the same claims. Two months ago the latest victim came across the article and also got in touch with us.”
Sack said it appears the perpetrator allegedly targeted foreign women travelling solo, having no local support structures. Three of the incidents allegedly occurred at the surf lodge where the victims stayed while the other reportedly occurred elsewhere.– Continued on page 2