AfriForum fights for justice for Bergview College caretaker accused of rape.
Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
AfriForum's Private Prosecution Unit has announced that it is now representing the Bergville College caretaker in Matatiele, in the Eastern Cape after he was accused of raping a seven-year-old girl.
"The far-reaching consequences of the false allegations of rape levelled against staff at Bergview College have become more evident. The caretaker approached the unit, which now represents him, for help because he and his family are effectively held captive in their home due to relentless threats. His identity, as well as that of his family, is being withheld for safety reasons," said the organisation.
The group further stated that despite the lack of evidence, social media has targeted the caretaker and the school's principal as either culpable for or involved in the claimed violation.
In April, AfriForum demanded an apology from the Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, for identifying the principal as a suspect.
"I have human and personal empathy for your client and any other person who might have been wrongly fingered as a suspect in circumstances where he or they were the only persons of interest," Mchunu said at the time.
"I categorically state that I never at any stage had an intention to defame your client or any other person for that matter."
Barry Bateman, the unit's spokesperson, said that the caretaker was asked to give a DNA sample, while the police may have allegedly not even considered him a suspect.
"It is our understanding that besides being asked to provide the DNA sample, the police have not asked him for an affidavit or a warning statement. This only further confirms our suspicion that if there was a rape, it did not happen at the school," Bateman said.
According to the lobby group, the caretaker claims that it came as a tremendous shock to him when he was told that the child had reportedly been raped at the school, but he trusted that the police would thoroughly examine the issue.
"I was not sure what to say, but I felt the truth would set me free, and this thing will come out eventually. I wasn't thinking that it would take this long because I know that I’m innocent and nothing happened at school. There were three teachers and the other cleaning lady at the school as well. How are they not going to hear what is happening?" He was quoted as asking.
Advocate Gerrie Nel, head of the unit, has written to the SAPS, saying that their 'slowness to conclude the inquiry' and release the results only helps to prolong the harm suffered by all individuals wrongfully accused of the claimed act.
"The police have a duty to ensure that everyone’s constitutional right to dignity is respected and protected. More so when the police hold the key to putting an end to ongoing violations against innocent people who have been falsely accused of heinous crimes and publicly vilified, allowing them to return to their jobs and communities confident that they have been vindicated.
"Importantly, the police have a duty to protect children, the most vulnerable in society. For seven months a child has been the subject of social media gossip and speculation, with her identity and intimate details of injuries to her body widely circulated," Nel said.
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