Africa-Press – South-Africa. The lawyer of an ANC official accused of raping a teenager questioned the timing of her client’s arrest – four months after the alleged incident and two weeks before the ANC’s elective conference.
The 34-year-old accused, who cannot be named as he has not yet pleaded, appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
The official, an ANC secretary in a ward north of Johannesburg is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl and later giving her R100 to buy her silence.
The incident is alleged to have happened in July 2022. However, the child confided in her parents only four months later, which led to the accused being arrested on 2 December.
The accused’s lawyer asked if it was a coincidence that the alleged rape was reported so soon before the ANC’s elective conference when the accused would be preparing for it.
It was not known if the accused was one of the delegates at the conference.
The lawyer also said she found it strange that the child’s parents did not notice that her behaviour had changed.
Instead, she said, the only person who noticed was the school’s security guard, who persuaded the child to confide in her parents.
The State, however, argued that there were no hidden motives for the reporting of the alleged rape after four months.
The prosecutor said:
The prosecutor said when victims were called to testify, they relived the incident which was traumatic, and the thought of the lengthy trial they would have to endure discouraged victims from speaking out.
“This is an innocent child who was violated. It is not uncommon for children in our community to get raped, but we must consider the stigma they have to endure,” she said, adding that the fact that the incident was reported close to the ANC elective conference should not be considered.
During the court proceedings, members of the public in the gallery, many of whom were in ANC T-shirts, shouted their disapproval – especially when the prosecutor called a witness to the stand who testified against the accused.
The witness, Che Serobedi, said he was disappointed at the accused’s alleged actions, given his high position in the community.
“If we do not hold leaders accountable, how will the community take us seriously? The accused attends stakeholder meetings where the high crime levels in the [community] are discussed and is a member of the school governing body [SGB] yet he has done this,” Serobedi told the court.
The witness, who collected signatures from community members who were against bail being granted, said the accused must be kept in custody until the matter was finalised.
The official’s lawyer gathered signatures from pupils at the school where the accused is on the SGB, and said these people believed the accused should be granted bail.
Arguing for bail, the lawyer said the accused is a father of three and the breadwinner, and not granting him bail would mean he would not be able to meet his responsibilities.
She said he must be granted bail under conditions that the magistrate would find suitable.
In opposing bail, the prosecutor said rape was a serious offence and the court had a duty to act in the interests of justice for the community and the victim.
She said releasing the accused would cause shock and outrage among community members, resulting in public disorder and risking the accused’s safety.
The prosecutor added that she feared that releasing the accused may jeopardise the case as he is a person of influence in the community.
The case was postponed to Thursday for judgment in the bail application.
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