The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) has called for an investigation into the sexual assault allegations levelled against a former Western Cape karate instructor.
In February, Weekend Argus reported on a police investigation into statutory rape of a teen karate student between 2017 and 2018.
She was allegedly impregnated by the karate instructor who was a member of Karate-Zen, which offered lessons to farm workers’ children as part of an upliftment programme. Police believe more girls fell victim to the alleged sexual predator.
The matter was allegedly swept under the rug by the Western Cape Karate Association, an affiliate of Karate South Africa (KSA), for two years until a whistle-blower exposed the scandal in a report to Premier Alan Winde in 2020.
Winde’s office confirmed receipt of the report and said it had been referred to the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport.
“A copy of the allegations was sent to the West Coast Karate Association, to which they responded. There appears to be a criminal case that has been made against the person in question. Clarity on who laid this criminal case is still vague,” department spokeswoman Stacy McLean said.
Sascoc president Barry Hendricks said that they had approached KSA for a report on the matter. “We are informed about this issue because of the Weekend Argus and we’re looking into it now,” said Hendricks.
“We have request(ed) a report in the matter from KSA,” Hendricks said, adding that they had given KSA until March 25 to respond.
Karate Association Western Cape president John Daniels said he had responded to Sascoc’s request.
“The president of KSA, in this week, asked me for a report on this (matter). I then formally wrote back and said to him ‘this is all we know about this (particular case)’. That’s how I understood the instruction from Sascoc,” said Daniels.
The whistle-blower’s report said at the time Daniels was made aware of the alleged rape, his wife, a Cape Town police officer, allegedly advised the association to handle the matter internally rather than to report it to the police.
Police have been investigating the matter after it emerged that the then 15-year-old victim fell pregnant in 2019.
Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile said there were still “no new developments” as they were still waiting for the paternity test results.
Another whistle-blower, Adele Marais, who is the wife of Albert Marais, former vice-president of KSA, also raised concerns about how the Western Cape dealt with investigations into claims of sexual misconduct after she reported an incident.
She said: “What I witnessed and what I heard from some of the athletes is quite disturbing.”
Marais said she raised the alarm after KSA competed in the 10th Youth World Tournament in Spain back in 2017. “I witnessed the tour manager slap one of the (underage) female athletes on the bum.
“I thought of it as very disturbing as no male adult has the right to slap a young lady on her bum. It also has been brought to my attention that it has happened more than once and that he has even asked one of the young ladies to kiss him on the cheek.
At least one of the four athletes told Weekend Argus that Marais’ accounts of events were accurate but that she did not want to talk about the matter.
Marais wrote a letter to then-KSA secretary-general Gillian Elson about her concerns.
Elson said he and various other executive members of KSA investigated the matter.
“The victims and some of the witnesses were afraid to speak out due to possible implications to their karate career and therefore it was inconclusive at the time.”
When Weekend Argus reached out to the tour manager involved he rubbished the allegations. “Adele confused (my) wife, who is herself 1.5m tall, with the other athletes. So, there is no truth in all of this.”
KSA said the matter was concluded after an investigation was conducted into the complainant’s allegation.
“That complainant provided no supporting evidence in respect of her allegation, due to the serious nature of the allegation,” Leonardo Ciutto, incumbent vice-president of KSA said.
But Marais said she never received any inquiry outcome and that she would have appealed it.