Karl Bremer Hospital Doctor in Court for Sexual Assault Charges committed on Tygerberg High School Learner
Reports received from the grandmother of a Grade 11 learner attending Tygerberg High School indicate that the doctor who has been accused of sexually assaulting her granddaughter is set to appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on 3 December 2025.
The incident is said to have taken place on 6 November 2025 when Mrs Govender took her granddaughter to Karl Bremer Hospital after she started to experience an overwhelming feeling of pain coming from her private area. The grandmother and granddaughter arrived at Karl Bremer Hospital between 18:00 and 19:00. According to the grandmother, they went through the observation phase and were called in by the doctor at approximately 21:45. “She was a toddler when she was last at the doctor, and we expected a female doctor”, says Mrs Govender after noticing that a male doctor, Shaan Nathire, was attending to her granddaughter.
Further reports from the grandmother stipulate that her granddaughter was traumatised after the consultation, crying profusely, saying that it felt like hours that she had to spend alone with the doctor. When the family arrived home, the teenage girl continued asking questions with tears pouring from her eyes, mainly revolving around why a male doctor tended to her without the presence of a female nurse or her grandmother during the examination, and whether Doctor Nathire was in fact a gynecologist instead of an MD.
Mrs Govender at Karl Bremer Hospital, feeling deeply disturbed by what she says is something she never expected to see happen to her granddaughter.
The next day, the teenage girl decided to open up about what she perceives as a traumatic experience to her cousin, telling in explicit detail what transpired in the consultation room the evening before, during the examination administered by the accused on the alleged victim. According to information received from the grandmother, the teenage girl and her cousin sat down with her on 7 November 2025, around 16:00, and shared details of the horrific incident. “The doctor asked her to get undressed. She had shorts on and a sweater. She said that no man had seen the bottom of her body. The doctor came to her and lifted her right leg up and asked her to lift up her left leg and then examined her, looking at the abscess. The doctor asked if he can kiss her. She said no”, states Mrs Govender, grandmother of the teenage girl. “Ma, he started to rub me and asked if I’m enjoying it. I said no, it is uncomfortable.”
Mrs Govender, immediately after having this disturbing conversation with her granddaughter, decided to go to Karl Bremer hospital, where she and her eldest daughter met up with sister Abrahams in the emergency wing of the hospital, and there told the sister about the incident. Sister Abrahams advised the family to take the matter up with the trauma unit however, with the matter not receiving immediate attention, the family decided to take further steps involving the South African Police Services in Bellville, leading to Doctor Nathire set to appear in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on 3 December 2025 for charges of sexual assault.
As South Africa continues to battle Gender-based violence on all fronts, incidents such as the case at Karl Bremer Hospital have sparked outrage, especially amongst women who now feel unsafe when visiting medical practitioners regarding challenges with their private areas, including body examinations that they feel could leave them in vulnerable situations. The family of the Tygerberg High School learner feels hard done by, claiming the doctor is still actively employed. They are planning to picket outside Bellville Magistrate’s Court during the court hearing to raise awareness around this case and to make a bold statement about the seriousness of the 16 days of activism around gender based violence and assault against women and children.
