Durban - A 30-year-old man arrested for verbally abusing his stepson in a voice recording that has gone viral on social media made his first appearance in court.
The man who cannot be named to protect the identity of the minor child, appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
The man was arrested on Tuesday.
He faces a charge of assault and the ill-treatment of a child in terms of the Children’s Act.
The case was remanded.
In the voice recording the man hurls profanities at the child over his prolonged use of the toilet and why his school shoes were left in the car.
The child is then ordered to hold his ears and go up and down as a form of punishment.
The child tries to explain himself, but the man continues to call him an idiot and useless.
The conversation lasts at least 10 minutes.
It was Reaction Unit SA who lifted the lid on the abuse.
Director Prem Balram said they had been asked for help by a private security company in Gauteng.
They had met SAPS Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit to help the child who was moved out of the home and sent to his biological father.
Last week a Cape Town businessman assaulting his wife went viral on social media.
In the CCTV footage the businessman is seen carrying out the assault in the presence of his minor daughter.
He then drags his wife by her hair onto the floor.
The man appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court and will not be named to protect his minor child’s identity.
The woman is being represented by AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit who said the woman said the abuse had been happening since 2018.
The case has been postponed until February 3 for a formal bail application.
IOL