Quarantine site in Mossel Bay under inspection after 20-year-old ‘sexually assaulted’

A cleaner was arrested in connection with the incident and was due to appear in the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

A Covid-19 quarantine site in Mossel Bay is being inspected by its facilities management company on Monday after a 20-year-old was allegedly sexually assaulted there on Friday.

“The facility management company is currently on site ascertaining how something like this could have happened and seeing how security could be tightened even further,” said Jandré Bakker, spokesperson for the Department of Transport and Public Works.

Bakker said the site remained open.

A cleaner was arrested in connection with the incident and was due to appear in the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

On Sunday, Bakker said that due to security and health protocols, no contact between cleaners and residents was allowed at the facility.

The residents leave when rooms are cleaned and sanitised, so the department also wants to know how there was any contact at all, if that is the case.

The contractor conducted background checks and according to records, the accused is a “star employee”.

PetroSA usually uses the site to accommodate workers during shutdown and maintenance periods.

It is being used as a quarantine site for people who have difficulty isolating in self-quarantining at home.