Just a week after police minister Bheki Cele spoke out against gender-based violence – and as President Cyril Ramaphosa continues to raise alarm around the GBV “pandemic” – the ANC has had to take action against one of its own for allegedly raping his twin daughters.
The party confirmed in a statement on Monday that the man had been suspended after he was arrested with his 26-year-old stepson on the same day for allegedly raping the eight-year-old girls.
His identity has been withheld to protect the identity of the children.
“[He] has been summarily suspended as a member of the ANC ... until the case is concluded by the competent court, consistent with the resolutions of the most recent national executive committee meeting of the ANC and the 54th national conference, which resolved that all members charged for corruption and other serious crimes should step aside from all activities associated with the ANC,” ANC acting Mpumalanga secretary Lindiwe Ntshalintshali said in a statement.
The party said it viewed the allegations in a serious light.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said the former Mpumalanga MEC and his co-accused appeared in the Nelspruit magistrates’ court on Monday and their case was postponed to October 1 for a formal bail application.
Both will remain in custody pending the outcome of the bail application.
The matter was reported in July, but the prosecution wanted it to be investigated.
Asked if the rape incidents had happened once or over a longer period, Nyuswa said: “It was not a once-off thing. One of the twins reported the incident to her teacher and the teacher reported it to the police. The same twin said she had witnessed rape happen to her sister.”
This is not the first time the former MEC has been implicated in rape allegations. He was arrested after a woman accused him of rape, but he denied the allegation, claiming the encounter had been consensual. The charges were later withdrawn by the state.
During a media briefing last week, Cele described gender-based violence as a second pandemic.
He said following Ramaphosa’s pronouncements about gender-based violence, it was still rife under lockdown.
Gauteng recorded the most reported cases at 743 with 1,173 arrests. This was followed by the Western Cape with 534 cases and 1,093 arrests, the Eastern Cape with 243 cases and 488 arrests, and KwaZulu-Natal with 230 cases and 375 arrests.
Rape, human trafficking for sexual offences, kidnapping for sexual offences and domestic-related human trafficking are some of the cases Cele said were reported to the SAPS during the 2019/20 financial year.
