Al-Noor Orphanage director’s bid fails
|Published
SUSPECT: Owner Amina Okpara, 47 SUSPECT: Owner Amina Okpara, 47
Western Cape High Court Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe dismissed an urgent application by Al-Noor Orphanage director Amina Okpara to have the whereabouts of 17 children who had been removed from the centre made available to her and her co-accused.
Okpara and seven others filed the bid against Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez and her departmental head, Dr Robert McDonald.
Okpara in her application wanted details of where the children who have been removed from the centre by the Department of Social Development in June this year.
The Department of Social Development had removed 17 children after conducting a preliminary investigation into a number of serious complaints of alleged physical and sexual abuse at the centre. The children had been placed in other child and youth care centres, and the department said were receiving the necessary social support, including assessment and counselling.
Judge Salie-Hlophe said: “It is not in the best interests of the children, as there are criminal charges pending, to preserve the safety of the children and avoid contamination of the course of the criminal charges and investigation.”
Okpara’s bid did not prove they had met the requirements of such an interdict. “There are claims that the children were influenced by WhatsApp communication in relation to the criminal investigation,” the judge said.
The owner of the orphanage, Okpara, 47, was released on R5000 bail in the Cape Town Magistrates’ Court in July.
Okpara is accused of stealing donations to the orphanage by redirecting the money to her personal bank account.
The Cameroonian faces three charges of contravening the Immigration Act and charges of conspiracy to commit fraud which are part of a massive Hawks investigation.