Claudine Shiels and Lisa van der Merwe want justice for what they endured as children. The sisters elected to have an open trial and reveal their identities to give strength to others who were too afraid to speak out.Two sisters engaged in a historical quest for justice after allegedly being sexually abused as children more than 40 years ago saw their"abuser" for the first time since then on Thursday.
Claudine Shiels, 60, and Lisa Van Der Merwe, 54, were allegedly abused by acquaintances they regarded as"uncles" in the 1970s. The alleged abuse continued for years and they would block a door to their bedroom to prevent the men from entering. "Seeing that man again was extremely painful," said Shiels after the man appeared briefly in the Wynberg magistrate's court in Cape Town. The case was postponed on Thursday for a second time after one of the two accused, who was in hospital, did not appear in court.Van der Merwe said seeing the accused made her angry."I just felt absolutely furious when I saw him, she said."You 'flip-flop'. You go from a very real anger, to a complete emotional breakdown.
Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act last year paved the way for sexual assault cases to be prosecuted retrospectively. The sisters, estranged for nearly 25 years, were then able to muster the courage to reunite and seek justice.
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