Daily Sun (June 2 2014) - THE DOOR opened and four children walked out of the room into the street. It may have been the first time they had felt the sun on their faces for eight years.
FOR A LARGE PART OF THEIR LIVES THEY HAD LIVED LIKE CAGED ANIMALS IN A DARKENED ROOM.
Cops had to stop outraged residents in Nobuhle hostel, Alexandra township, Joburg from attacking the 50-year-old man and his 46-year-old wife when they heard the couple had locked up their four children in a hostel room.
The parents are now behind bars, facing charges of child abuse. The eldest child, a 24-year-old man, was also chained up when his parents went out.
It appears the young man managed to break free from his shackles two weeks ago and was admitted to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital suffering from mental illness and needing treatment for his bruised hands and legs.
On Friday, Constable Bongani Mbonambi and the police freed the children from their prison.
A community leader said they were shocked at the terrible conditions the children lived in.
"The room was full of dirty stuff lying everywhere. There was no room to walk in the passage and the children were kept in the back in a dark corner. We found a chain which the children said their father used to tie up their elder brother," he said. A neighbour, Mfihleni Ndaonde, said although he came to live at the hostel nine years before, he didn't even know the couple had children.
"I live right next door to them but I never saw or heard the kids," said Mfihleni.
"I see Emmanuel leaving for work. He makes sure his room is always locked."
Another neighbour who asked not to be named said he thought Emmanuel had an illegal business, because he always kept his premises locked. He said he was shocked to see the bruises on the older son's hands and legs.
The father, who works as a gardener, said he had to lock his son up because he was mentally ill. "He becomes very
violent so I had to keep him chained in the house."
He told social workers and the police he locked his children in the house because the world was a dangerous place and he didn't want the children to be killed.
Alexandra Police Captain Kym Cloete said police arrested one male on charges of child negligence. The children were handed over to cops to be taken to a place of safety.
The suspect will appear at the Alexandra Magistrates Court today, facing charges of child negligence.
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