24th September 2011

JHB tennis mom to sue Bob Hewitt

The Johannesburg mother of another of Bob Hewitt's alleged victims wants to sue the former tennis star for molesting her daughter more than 20 years ago - even though he is over 70 and in bad health.

The woman, whose name is known to The Independent on Saturday, said she had been one of 20 mothers living in the Bedfordview, Kempton Park, Edenvale and nearby areas who

confronted Hewitt when they discovered behavioural changes in their daughters, who were all 12 at the time.

He had been their tennis coach at the time.

“He had a massive property in Bedfordview then and he used to coach our children. But I started noticing a change in my daughter, and that was when she told me what was going on with Hewitt. It was 20 of us parents eventually who got together because we were all experiencing the same thing. It was then that we discovered what he was doing to our girls.

“Before we confronted him, some of us went to the coaching sessions and you could actually see him do it. You could see him fondle their breasts while he stood behind them and taught them how to hold their racquet properly.”