Johannesburg - A group of concerned citizens have launched a fundraising campaign to help the seven-year-old girl who was allegedly raped at a Dros restaurant in Silverglen, Pretoria.
The campaign was launched on the crowdfunding platform, BackaBuddy, will be used to "re-build the young girl's life" and help pay for her therapy.
The campaign creators, who asked to remain anonymous, explained their motivation for starting the campaign.
"We prefer to remain anonymous in this campaign – We don't need any recognition or importance out of it, what's important is that we come together as concerned South Africans, and help this young victim, whose life has all but been destroyed. Our team was saddened and disturbed by the events and our hearts go out to the victim and her family.
"We know that rape can traumatise the victim emotionally for years afterwards, so we hope the funds raised will be used for therapy and rehabilitation for the victim so that she can have some semblance of normality or even happiness again.
“Therapy is very costly these days and we know for many people it is not possible to pay for it. Having said that, we are also happy for the family to use these funds in any way they see fit – We trust the family will know best what to do to help their daughter under the circumstances, and we will certainly not dictate how the money should be spent.
The campaign went live on the October 3 and has thus far raised R 46 879.39 with contributions from 55 contributors.
One donor is reported to have contributed as much as R31 018.97.
Also speaking of the campaign was BackaBuddy public relations officer Zane Groenewald who said: “All funds raised with this initiative, will be strictly managed by Backabuddy NPC. Funds will only be released to the family directly or to relevant practitioners identified by the family - the anonymous campaign creators will have no access to the funds. In the event that we are unable to reach the family, donors will be informed and refunded accordingly".
The man accused of raping the young girl meanwhile, recently appeared in court on charges of rape, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, intimidation and possession of drugs.
The matter was postponed to November 1.
*For more information, visit https://www.backabuddy.co.za/help-the-dros-rape-victim-to-rehabilitate or visit the BackaBuddy.co.za homepage.