She says she asked for water. She says they told her to drink from the toilet.
A mother from Wesbank says she is now living in fear of the very people who are meant to protect her — the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) — after she was allegedly assaulted and sexually assaulted inside her own bedroom during a search of her home.
Kim van Wyk, 39, says the ordeal has left her frightened to sleep in her own house, frightened to open her own front door, and frightened of every uniform she sees on her street.
It Started On A Walk To The Shop
Kim said police and SANDF members arrived at her home on Thursday at about 5.17pm, allegedly looking for firearms and drugs.
At that moment, she was not even at home. She was walking to a nearby shop with her daughter.
That is when she saw them — two police vans and an army truck parked outside her house.
Their faces were covered. But she says she recognised one of the officers from Mfuleni SAPS who was sitting inside one of the vans.
She turned around and headed back to her home.
The Swearing Started Immediately
Kim said the moment she got close, the tone was set.
She said: "I turned around and went back home when they aggressively told me to get in the house.
"They started swearing at me saying, 'jou ma se p**s, waa' jou man? Ons soek die guns en drugs.' I told them I don't have guns or drugs, it's just me and my children, they can search the house."
In plain English, she says they swore at her and demanded to know where her husband was, telling her they were looking for the guns and the drugs.
Her answer, she says, was simple. There were no guns. There were no drugs. It was just her and her children in the house, and they were welcome to search it from top to bottom.
"Take Her Upstairs And Finish Her"
Kim explained that she and her husband are in the middle of a divorce. She described him as a member of a prison gang, but stressed that the two of them have been separated for months.
She said the group took her phone and used it to call her husband. His phone was off.
And then, she says, came the words she cannot forget.
"My husband and I are in the process of a divorce. He is a 'binne bende', but we have been separated for months. They took my phone and called my husband but his phone was off. The police told the soldiers, 'take her upstairs and finish her'."
Behind Closed Blinds
Kim alleged that five SANDF members then took her to her bedroom, where she was assaulted and repeatedly smothered with a plastic bag.
She said one of the men closed the blinds and curtains before the assault began.
She said another allegedly grabbed her by the neck and by her intimate area, then threw her onto the bed.
A third man, she says, pulled a blue plastic bag over her face and held it there for about five minutes, leaving her fighting for air.
"That Is Sexual Assault"
Kim's account of what happened next is harrowing.
She added: "One soldier laid with his back on my bed and grabbed me from behind, I must lay with my back on top of him while he holds me down, that is sexual assault.
"Then they placed the plastic bag over my face again continuously. I prayed and asked God to spaar my…"
Those last two words are Afrikaans. She was praying for God to spare her.
In And Out Of Consciousness
Kim says she cannot fully account for everything that happened, because she kept blacking out.
"I was in and out of consciousness, I am not sure what they did to me when I was out but when I gained consciousness, I just saw a man with a taser in his hands and they said, 'last man standing'.
"When I asked for water, they said I must drink out of the toilet pot and told me not to say anything as the community was outside. They said, 'When we come back we are gonna kill you.'"
She believes the alleged assault lasted about 30 minutes.
Thirty minutes behind a closed bedroom door, with a community standing outside on the street, unaware of what she says was unfolding upstairs.
The Case Is Open
Kim has opened a case at Mfuleni SAPS.
Provincial police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg confirmed the case, saying: "Kindly be advised that the mentioned case is an assault case. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation and no arrests have been made."
No arrests. No names. No answers yet.
A Community That Knows These Operations Well
Wesbank and the surrounding areas of Mfuleni, Delft and Blue Downs have seen a heavy security presence in recent times, with joint operations between the police and soldiers becoming a regular sight on the streets.
Residents are used to the sound of the trucks pulling in. They are used to the roadblocks, the house searches, the flashing lights and the covered faces.
For many families, that presence brings comfort. For others, it brings dread.
Kim says she now falls firmly into the second group.
Living In Fear
A mother who says she offered to let officers search every corner of her home now says she is too scared to be in it.
She says she flinches at engines outside. She says she watches the road. She says she thinks about the words that were allegedly spoken to her before they left.
The investigation is under way, and the outcome will be watched closely by a community that has learned to keep one eye on the street at all times.
Because when a woman says she was hurt inside her own bedroom by people in uniform, the question that hangs over the whole neighbourhood is a simple and frightening one — who exactly do you call for help?
