A former security guard is accused of stabbing and trying to rape a woman just metres from Premier Helen Zille’s home.
|||Cape Town - A former security guard is accused of stabbing and trying to rape a woman just metres from Premier Helen Zille’s home.
The woman was attacked in broad daylight in Leeuwenhof Road, which borders Zille’s official residence, Leeuwenhof.
Gardeners at Zille’s luxury mansion heard the woman’s screams.
“We couldn’t see her, but could only hear it coming from the back,” one of the gardeners told the Daily Voice.
The Cape Town Magistrates’ Court heard on Friday that Thembalani Nontloko, 27, forced a domestic worker back into the house of her employer, undressed the victim and tried to rape her.
When she resisted, he got a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her repeatedly in her head and back.
“This man did not know the complainant, yet he attacked her and injured her so seriously,” Magistrate Nikki Oaks said.
Nontloko allegedly ran out the gate while the woman screamed for help.
She was treated in Somerset Hospital. He was arrested a few hours later.
When the Daily Voice informed Premier Zille of the attack, she said it was “horrific and shocking”.
“I am shocked by any crime, anywhere. It doesn’t especially shock me because it happened near my house,” she said.
The incident would not prompt her to add more security around her house, she added.
Nontloko faces a charge of attempted rape. He told the court he had a previous conviction of robbery in 2011.
Originally from the Eastern Cape, he came to the city as a security guard in 2010 but was now unemployed.
“Forensic and DNA reports, scene photos and fingerprint analysis are all still outstanding,” said State Prosecutor Geoffrey van Zyl.
Nontloko initially refused an interpreter but then asked for one. This prompted the State to request a psychological report.
His case was postponed to April 4 for his bail application.
Daily Voice