Latest news with #Matatiele
The Herald
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
EFF to 'fight for Cwecwe' through private prosecution after NPA drops case — Malema
EFF leader Julius Malema has pledged to pursue a private prosecution in the rape case of seven-year-old 'Cwecwe', a Matatiele girl allegedly sexually assaulted at Bergview College in October last year. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) dropped the case this month, citing insufficient evidence, sparking outrage and allegations of systemic failure to address gender-based violence and child abuse. Speaking to supporters in ward 16 of Kwakwatsi in the Free State on Sunday, Malema condemned the NPA's decision and vowed to seek justice for 'Cwecwe'. 'Let's protect our children and women, let's make sure South Africa is safe for them,' he said. Malema, who met Cwecwe's family a few weeks ago to offer support, claimed adversaries are funding rival political parties to dismantle the EFF, saying, 'If the EFF dies, cases such as Cwecwe's will never be taken seriously'. 'Today they took a decision not to prosecute people who raped Cwecwe. We are going to pursue private prosecution on behalf of the family and we are going to make sure Cwecwe gets the best medical care so she doesn't relive the trauma she has experienced.' Listen to Malema:
TimesLIVE
26-05-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
EFF to 'fight for Cwecwe' through private prosecution after NPA drops case — Malema
EFF leader Julius Malema has pledged to pursue a private prosecution in the rape case of seven-year-old 'Cwecwe', a Matatiele girl allegedly sexually assaulted at Bergview College in October last year. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) dropped the case this month, citing insufficient evidence, sparking outrage and allegations of systemic failure to address gender-based violence and child abuse. Speaking to supporters in ward 16 of Kwakwatsi in the Free State on Sunday, Malema condemned the NPA's decision and vowed to seek justice for 'Cwecwe'. 'Let's protect our children and women, let's make sure South Africa is safe for them,' he said. Malema, who met Cwecwe's family a few weeks ago to offer support, claimed adversaries are funding rival political parties to dismantle the EFF, saying, 'If the EFF dies, cases such as Cwecwe's will never be taken seriously'. 'Today they took a decision not to prosecute people who raped Cwecwe. We are going to pursue private prosecution on behalf of the family and we are going to make sure Cwecwe gets the best medical care so she doesn't relive the trauma she has experienced.'
News24
19-05-2025
- News24
No prosecution will take place in Cwecwe's case, NPA confirms
A mother's most unrelenting quest to justice has bore no fruit. Even after her fights, the social media uproar and condemnation of the violation on children, Cwecwe's mother still has no answers. And by the look of things, she won't have any answers about the violation of her 8-year-old daughter anytime soon. Last month, police minister, Senzo Mchunu told the media that the state prosecutor has declined to prosecute suspects in the case involving a 7-year-old girl referred to as Cwecwe, citing a lack of sufficient evidence. This is after Cwecwe underwent a medical exam and a session with a social worker. Read more | #JusticeForCwecwe: A mother's unrelenting quest In the address, Senzo said the matter had elements of complexity regarding the handling of the case docket, with her DNA being a point of contention. Upon testing the little girl, no foreign DNA was found on her body. For weeks, the country was up in arms over Cwecwe's school principal refusing to have his DNA tested as a suspect. Over the weekend, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that in November 2024, a case docket was presented to prosecutors in Matatiele Magistrates' court as well as to the case manager at the Matatiele Thuthuzela Care Centre in the Eastern Cape. 'The docket contained information with suspicions of sexual assault on a minor girl. The prosecutors assessed the contents thereof and concluded that there was insufficient evidence upon which a successful prosecution could be instituted as no conclusive evidence of rape/sexual assault could be found after an interview and examination conducted on the minor girl,' the statement revealed. Read more | #JusticeForCwecwe: National shutdown looms as civil groups take to the streets The provincial Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) office then had a relook into the matter and conceded on the decision. This was not communicated to the public at the time of the decision because 'doing so could have the potential to compromise any ongoing police investigations'. 'However, in view of the public outcry and interest generated since the matter resurfaced in April 2025, the NPA has decided to communicate the decision of the prosecutors in the Eastern Cape division. We can also indicate that the police have since resubmitted the docket to the DPP's office for further consideration.'
New York Times
09-05-2025
- New York Times
‘Enough is Enough': Report of a Child's Rape Enrages South Africans
The protesters were furious. They tugged on the gate of the school where the mother said her 7-year-old daughter had been raped. They demanded that the school be closed, and threatened to burn it down. Demonstrators in the small town of Matatiele, South Africa — known for its pristine, litter-free streets — have been furious ever since videos of the mother, Thandekile Mtshizana, were posted online a couple of months ago describing her daughter's account of being assaulted at Bergview College. The clips drew millions of views and have turned the case of the girl, known online by the pseudonym Cwecwe, into the latest flashpoint in South Africa's long battle against sexual violence, challenging a culture of shame and silence. In rural communities like Matatiele, the case of Cwecwe has touched a nerve. 'This time we say it cannot be business as usual,' said Thapelo Monareng, a retail worker who took time off work to attend the protest in Matatiele. 'We are here to say enough is enough.' The police have said the investigation is ongoing and extremely sensitive. Tests did not find foreign DNA on the girl's body or clothes, according to a presentation the police made to Parliament in April. The results of a doctor's original examination were inconclusive, the police said, adding that they have no suspects. An average of 118 rape are reported each day in South Africa, according to police statistics for the most recent year available. One in three South African women over 18 — or more than seven million — have been victims of physical violence at some point in their lives, the statistics say. Women's rights activists have long criticized what they see as a tepid response from the government. Between 2018 and 2023, more than 61,740 rape cases and 5,523 sexual assault cases were closed without being solved. 'We come from an era where the penalty for beating a girl and sleeping with her by force was a goat and a few lashes at the chief's court,' said Thabang Kuali, a traditional leader in Matatiele. While those days are now largely gone, Mr. Kuali said, he hoped that Cwecwe's case would 'shift the needle in how men think.' 'I saw men marching against rape for the first time in this Cwecwe matter,' he said. Officials at Bergview did not respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for the school's principal has said that based on the timing of Cwecwe's injuries, he believed that she had been assaulted in the community, not at school. Mrs. Mtshizana said she was not concerned about the inconclusiveness of the investigation. 'I will get justice one way or the other,' she added. The demonstrations culminated in March with a march to the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa to deliver a petition demanding that he declare sexual violence a national disaster in South Africa. The Cwecwe case 'must become a catalyst for systemic change — not just another flicker of attention that fades until the next tragedy,' said Sabrina Walter, the founder of Women for Change, the organization that drafted the petition. Declaring a national disaster would allow the government to quickly fund efforts to tackle gender-based violence, Ms. Walter said. And it also would enable better collaboration across government agencies, from law enforcement to health and social services. Mrs. Mtshizana says she reported her daughter's assault to the police as soon as her daughter told her it happened in October, but that the story only received attention in March, when she posted about it on TikTok after months of waiting for the police to make an arrest. She says her daughter told her that a caretaker at the school had asked her to sweep a classroom. The girl recalled that while she was sweeping, she smelled what seemed like burning tires and then fell asleep, said Mrs. Mtshizana. Her daughter woke up with injuries but did not know what had happened. Mrs. Mtshizana, who is a police officer at a separate station, said that after her daughter came home from school with stomach pains and blood stains on her track pants, she took her to a doctor, who examined her and then broke the horrific news that she had been raped. 'I cried,' Mrs. Mtshizana said in video shared on social media. 'I cried because I am also a victim of rape. I know how it feels.' Mrs. Mtshizana said she had decided to go public because she felt that the police investigation was dragging and that it had become difficult to get updates. Her mind drifted to how she felt when she was raped at 20, she said, and the betrayal she felt by the justice system in the aftermath. 'I still live with those scars,' she said. 'I want different for my daughter.' Before the attack, Mrs. Mtshizana said, her daughter had been a top performer in her first grade class. She loved being a big sister. Now, her daughter is reserved and sketches broken hearts, she said. 'All I can do is fight for her.'
News24
08-05-2025
- News24
Eastern Cape launches audit of independent schools after alleged rape of girl, 7
Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade has ordered an audit of all independent schools in the province. This after the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl at an independent school in Matatiele. The department described the incident as a 'wake-up call' for provincial education authorities. Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade says an audit of all independent schools in the province has begun, following the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl at an independent school in Matatiele. The incident, believed to have taken place in October, surfaced on social media in late March, prompting Gade to write to Bergview College to revoke the school's registration certificate - an action he quickly rescinded - after the school approached the Eastern Cape High Court in Makhanda to challenge the decision. In a media briefing at the department's Mandla Makupula Leadership Institute offices in East London on Thursday, he said the alleged rape was an 'eye-opener' for the provincial government. 'That is why we established an inter-ministerial committee led by Safety MEC (Xolile Nqatha) in the province and (Police) Minister Senzo Mchunu at national level,' Gade added. The Eastern Cape has 309 independent schools of which the provincial education department subsidises 117. The department's deputy director general for institutional operations and management, Thembani Mtyida, said the incident in Matatiele was a 'wake-up' call. 'We need to strengthen the monitoring systems of all operations at independent schools. The department has established multidisciplinary teams to visit each independent school for compliance.' Mtyida added: Our approach is to target those schools that receive [subsidies] from the department, which are 117 in total. We have completed the process of auditing them. In the next week, we will start with the next phase where the rest of the 192 [independent schools] will also be visited. He said issues like pupils' safety, infrastructure, police compliance, curriculum implementation and staff vetting form part of the auditing process. Gade added he still believed the decision to write to Bergview College to revoke its registration was needed at the time. 'We don't have regrets. We are still firm that we were correct. We wanted the school to take actions regarding the incident,' he said.
