Thousands march to call for justice for raped child

Hundreds marched in Cape Town to call for justice for a seven-year-old child raped in the Eastern Cape in October last year. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

Thousands of students and learners marched in Cape Town and Durban on Tuesday calling for justice for a seven-year-old who was raped in the Eastern Cape last October.

In December the child’s mother had accused the police of being slow to act after the child was raped. The child was a learner at Bergview College, a private school in Matatiele. There is no confirmation that the child was raped at the school.

In a statement on Wednesday SAPS said National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola had tasked the head of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Investigations Unit, Major General Mmantsheke Lekhele, to oversee the investigation into the rape. Lekhele was currently meeting the investigating team to make sure “due diligence was conducted in this case and the chain of evidence was properly preserved”.

Learners, including primary school learners accompanied by parents, and students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology took part in a march from Keizersgracht to the offices of the Western Cape Education Department and then to Parliament.

In Durban, about 500 protesters marched from Gugu Dlamini Park to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education offices. A memorandum was handed over to Nkosinathi Ngcobo, head of the provincial department of Education.

At the provincial education offices in Cape Town a memorandum was handed to MEC David Maynier, asking him to put pressure on the Eastern Cape Education Department to fire the principal of the school. It also demanded faster action from the police and the arrest of the rapist.

Maynier said he would refer the memorandum to the relevant national departments for action.

“We are aware that the Eastern Cape Department of Education, as well as SAPS, are investigating the incident. We urge them to ensure that the perpetrator is found and faces the full might of the law.

“Our children must be able to learn in a safe environment when at school. While this incident has occurred in another province, I urge anyone who becomes aware of an incident of abuse or assault in a Western Cape school to report this immediately to SAPS and to our Safe Schools Programme,” said Maynier.

Protesters march through the streets of Cape Town’s city centre on Tuesday. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

SAPS and Afriforum contradict each other

In a media release on 29 March the Ministry of Police acknowledged the outcry on social media. “A minor from Bergview College in the Eastern Cape was raped, with three individuals, including the school principal, identified as suspects. All outstanding statements have since been obtained by the Investigating Officer. DNA tests have also been conducted.”

But Barry Bateman, communications manager for Afriforum, which is representing the school principal, said the principal was not a suspect. In a press release from 29 March, Afriforum stated that they would never defend a rapist. Bateman said the principal had not been on the school campus where the rape took place.

“We are appalled that the police have still made no arrests,” said Bateman.

In a statement, SAPS said Lekhele was currently meeting the investigating team to make sure “due diligence was conducted in this case and the chain of evidence was properly preserved”.

The child’s mother shared the story on social media on a podcast called Hope Revolution. She said on the day of the rape the child had been in the company of four men - her husband, the school principal, the driver of the school transport, and the caretaker. She said all but the school principal had agreed to have DNA samples taken and the results had come back negative. She said the principal had not agreed to be tested.

In a letter to SAPS, Gerrie Nel of Afriforum said that Afriforum had advised the principal not to provide a DNA sample “until an acceptable rationale is provided explaining why it is required for the investigation”. He said the request for a DNA sample was “irrational and unwarranted” as well as an “abuse of process”.

This follows a statement last week in which Eastern Cape Department of Education MEC Fundile Gade announced his plans to deregister the school. He said the school had violated the conditions relating to learners’ safety and blamed the school management for delays in the investigation. He said the principal had refused to cooperate with the police.

The chairperson of Bergview College board of trustees, Danie van Zyl, said in a statement on 30 March that the school had taken legal advice and “we have been advised that the MEC does not have the authority or power to withdraw the registration of our school as he has purported to do”.

Van Zyl said the decision was “illegal and invalid” and did not comply with the law. The school would ask the High Court to set the decision aside, he said.

“This case dates back to October last year and nothing has happened,” said CPUT student Lumkile Jongephi, at the Tuesday march.

He said the marches across the country were not only for this child but for all children experiencing abuse at their homes, communities and schools.

“Schools are meant to protect the children and not harm them. What happened to this child is happening at other schools as well,” said Jongephi.

Sonwabo Philani, also a CPUT student participating in the Cape Town march, said abuse of children in any form was “not acceptable”.

“Anyone suspected of violating children’s rights should be prosecuted and when found guilty sentenced to a very lengthy jail term, even life imprisonment,” said Philani.

Nomvula Shale, from the Siphila Ngomusa Community Development, who helped draft the memorandum handed over in Durban, said her organisation got involved in the march because they want swift justice for the learner who was raped and measures to prevent this from happening again in schools. The Siphila Ngomusa Community Development focuses on health care and the end of the spread of HIV.

Nokuthula Cele, who is the chairperson of EThekwini District Women’s Sector of the AIDS Council, and who took part in the march, said that she often had to deal with violence against young people.

“We have various cases of young children that come to us with cases of rape and we want to see justice for all these learners.”

The girl’s mother told GroundUp on Tuesday that the investigation was at last proceeding. She referred further questions to Nomvula Qola of Holekane Women’s Support Organisation, which focuses on gender-based violence in Matatiele.

Qola said the mother, who is a police officer, had been asked to stop giving interviews as she was sharing too much information including what was on the docket.

She said SAPS and the Department of Social Development are now working together to help the mother and her daughter.

Crowds gather outside the KZN education department’s office in Durban. They are demanding that their own education officials put measures in place to better deal with sexual assault cases involving learners. Photo: Tsoanelo Sefoloko

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