- Galinda Nelson, who runs a Western Cape NPO, is accused of chaining a child to a bed and beating another with a horsewhip.
- She has refused to attend a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.
- On Monday, she was escorted to hospital.
A Western Cape woman accused of abusing children in her care has resisted attending a psychiatric evaluation voluntarily.
Galinda Nelson, who reportedly runs the non-profit organisation Cardinal Halyard International, had to be escorted to her appointment on Monday, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
Nelson, who is out on a warning after being accused of child abuse for allegedly chaining a child to a bed and using a horsewhip to beat another, previously also refused to attend the evaluation after she disrupted proceedings earlier this year when she locked herself in the bathroom of the Worcester Magistrate’s Court, claiming that security personnel had been "abusive" towards her.
The drama played out shortly before she was to appear in the dock.
This resulted in her being referred for a provisional evaluation by a psychiatrist.
She had then refused to accompany the two officers arranged to escort her to the appointment, which then had to be cancelled.
The court ordered that she be assisted by Legal Aid and the new appointment for Monday was made.
The case has been postponed to 24 June.
The Worcester Standard, at the time of her arrest early in 2019, reported that she had 12 children in her care, aged between two and 16, who were found in a temporary building in the Scherpenjeuwel district.
Police told the publication that a 16-year-old had allegedly been chained by the neck for three days, while her biological child, 15, had allegedly been beaten daily.
According to the Weekend Argus the children were placed in her care by parents or relatives wanting better lives for them and she had also been caring for Aids orphans and abused and neglected township children for over a decade.
The provincial social development department had previously told the Cape Times that the children were allegedly being kept illegally without the department's knowledge.