Judgment in the trial of a Karoo farmer, who is accused of raping and trafficking six women after luring them to his farm for au pair work, will commence on Monday.
The matter was initially scheduled to begin at the Makhanda high court on Friday.
Louis Lategan, 42, who remains in custody, faces a string of charges.
He is accused of drugging and repeatedly raping the women at his Xamdeboo (formerly Aberdeen) farm between 2020 and 2023.
According to the indictment, Lategan also faces additional charges of assault, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and unlawful possession of more than 200 cartridges for a firearm.
The assault charges relate to children aged between eight and 13.
The ages of the rape complainants range between 18 and 24.
They cannot be named to protect their identities.
Lategan has pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed that the sex was consensual.
One of the alleged victims reportedly committed suicide while another, according to the indictment, fell pregnant.
After his divorce on October 6 2020, the state says, Lategan was to have contact with his two children, including having them visit for brief periods on the farm.
“The accused was required, in terms of the divorce order, to have an au pair present on the farm for four months from the date of the divorce until January 31 2021 during the children’s visits,” the indictment reads.
Lategan lived alone after his ex-wife moved to Robert Sobukwe Town (formerly Graaff-Reinet).
At the beginning of 2020, before the divorce but after the separation, the state alleges, Lategan advertised on Facebook for an au pair to work on the farm and take care of his children when they came to visit.
He also later used an employment agency for the same purpose.
“After the complainants accepted the job offers and during their ‘employment’ tenure, the accused gave them drinks, suspected to be laced with a drug, which rendered them defenceless against his [alleged] sexual predations,” the indictment states.
“They were unable to remember what happened afterwards, but the accused [allegedly] convinced them that they had initiated the sexual intercourse or that it occurred consensually.
“He effectively spun a web of lies and deceit from which the complainants were unable to escape and he [allegedly] continued sexually to exploit them, often for a considerable period of time.”
The state alleges that Lategan had offered to fetch the first complainant, 21, in Bloemfontein.
Her father saw Lategan’s Facebook post and sent it to her.
They then travelled from Bloemfontein to Xamdeboo and Lategan reportedly indicated that he would pay between R5,000 and R6,000 a month for the au pair work.
Three weeks after her arrival, Lategan gave the woman a drink, the indictment alleges.
“The drink caused her to feel ill and very drowsy. She went to sleep, fully clothed, in her bedroom.
“The following morning, she woke up naked in the accused’s bed. The accused gave her a drink on several occasions which had the same effect.”
In May 2020, the state alleges, Lategan dropped the complainant off with a couple in Robert Sobukwe Town and she travelled home after the Covid-19 lockdown was lifted.
“She discovered that she was pregnant and gave birth to the accused’s child on January 31 2021.
The state alleges she had no knowledge of having had sexual intercourse with the accused on any occasion during her period living with him on the farm.
The second complainant, 24, lived in Witbank.
The state alleges that Lategan sent her a Facebook message in May 2020 indicating that he was looking for an au pair to take care of his children.
The complainant accepted the position and Lategan paid money into her account for her travelling expenses.
“The accused gave the complainant a drink. It caused her to pass out,” the state alleges.
“The following morning she woke up naked in the accused’s bed.
“The following night she went to sleep in her own bedroom, the accused fetched her and carried her to his bed.
“She was [allegedly] not in a position to object to the regular sexual intercourse that the accused had with her while she lived on the farm until the accused told her to leave in August 2022.”
The third complainant, 20, lived in Standerton and Lategan offered her the job.
The second and third complainants were with Lategan on the farm on New Year’s Eve.
The state alleges: “They drank shooters. The two complainants woke up the following morning naked in the accused’s bed with him.
“Neither had any knowledge of sexual intercourse with the accused.”
The third complainant wanted to leave the farm in January 2022.
The second complainant assisted her to do so and arranged for her to stay with her family in Witbank.
After the third complainant left, Lategan reportedly contacted the owner of an au pair agency in February 2022 and informed her that he was urgently seeking an au pair.
The agency put him in touch with the fourth complainant and they communicated directly with each other.
Lategan fetched her in Nxuba (Cradock) in mid-June 2022 and reportedly informed her that she would be paid R8,000 a month.
The state alleges: “Upon their arrival on the farm, the accused insisted that the complainant should sleep in his bedroom.
“He indicated that he would sleep elsewhere. The complainant locked the door.
“The accused knocked on the door at night. The complainant refused to allow him to enter.
“She contacted her mother and the au pair agency and indicated that she wanted to leave.”
The following morning, she advised Lategan to take her home, which he did.
Lategan reportedly identified the fifth complainant.
She accepted the work offer and travelled to Gqeberha by bus in August 2022.
Shortly after her arrival, Lategan reportedly told the second complainant to leave and made arrangements for her mother to fetch her.
Lategan was claimed to have fetched the fifth complainant in Gqeberha and booked a hotel and allegedly instructed her to sign the reservation as “Mrs Lategan”.
The state further claims: “He insisted that she should drink. The complainant repeatedly visited the bathroom and following the last visit went to lie on the bed owing to feeling intoxicated.
“The accused joined her. He undressed her and [allegedly] raped her.”
The next day they reportedly drove to the farm.
The fifth complainant was claimed to have initially slept in the same room with the second complainant, however, Lategan allegedly insisted that she sleep with him in his bed.
The state further alleges: “He had sexual intercourse with her daily, which the complainant was not in a position to refuse.”
Her grandmother died in September 2022 and she used the opportunity to leave the farm.
The state alleges that Lategan also made contact with an au pair agency in Polokwane in July 2022 and the sixth complainant responded to the advert posted on its website.
She travelled from Amanzimtoti to the farm in September 2022.
In October 2022, Lategan reportedly took her to a bar to celebrate her birthday with his friends.
Lategan, the state alleges, also gave her a drink and she felt drowsy and nauseous.
She asked him to take her home.
On arrival, she fell asleep and that is when the alleged rape happened.
Lategan allegedly raped her regularly until she fell pregnant and later lost her unborn baby.
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