'A comedy of errors." This is how acting judge Peet Johnson described the state's case against rape accused Johannes Molefe, who was facing three counts of rape and 11 counts of sexual assault against primary school girls at the AB Xuma school in Soweto.
Judges are usually measured in their use of language, especially when discharging their judicial duties - they choose their words carefully and they also bear in mind the impact of their words on society in general. There must have been something drastically wrong with the state's case against Molefe that drove the judge to utter the words above. Molefe is a free man and will be enjoying his Christmas lunch with his family. But how did we get here?
Well, in October last year Molefe was arrested following some very serious accusations levelled against him. The 58-year-old minder of learners was accused of raping three girls and sexually assaulting 11 others. These are extremely serious charges. Rape is one of our biggest social problems in this country.
Where such a crime is alleged to have been committed, one expects all the parties involved to do everything possible to investigate the crime and work with the prosecuting authorities to make sure that every nook and cranny regarding the case is covered.
What makes the AB Xuma matter even worse is the fact that here we are dealing with children - the most vulnerable in our society. Some of the alleged victims are said to be as young as six. What does the whole episode mean for these children? Have we as society denied them justice?
Of course, the scales of justice carry equal weight for both accuser and accused. What does this whole AB Xuma case mean for Molefe himself? He also deserves justice as an accused in this terrible case. There is still a dark cloud hanging over his head. The bungling by all the parties involved in preparing the case, from the school principal, school governing body (SGB), investigating officer, social workers and all the way up to Silverton, where our prosecutorial authorities are based - all of them denied Molefe an opportunity to clear his name through a rigorous judicial process.
Where to from here? Some of the spokespeople of the key parties involved in this matter have been quoted as saying this is not the end of the proverbial road for them, implying that they are going to push for the matter to be pursued. How this will be done I am not entirely sure, especially bearing in mind the ages of the alleged victims involved in the case. Will they be prepared psychologically to go through the entire court process again, which is extremely difficult and intimidating even for an adult? I am all for this if it will be done in a manner that will not subject the children to another dose of trauma. This will hopefully be good for the accused as well, so that he does not live his life with this cloud hanging over his head.
But secondly and perhaps most important, our educators and members of SGBs have to be trained in dealing with these matters. It was heartbreaking to hear the chair of the SGB saying on radio that they are not sure if all the CCTV cameras were working during the period in which Molefe is alleged to have committed the crimes! Being a member of the SGB is an extremely serious task that comes with the huge responsibilities of running the affairs of the school and creating a proper environment for learning to happen.
As for the police, perhaps the lesson to be learnt from this case is a simple one - rape cases are by their nature very complex and thus require the best brains to investigate. I pass no judgment on the experience and the skills of the investigating officer in this particular case, but judging by judge Johnson's remarks, things went horribly wrong in investigating this matter. This was no ordinary case. This was a case involving a large group of minors whose future may be severely affected by this sorry saga. The fact that more than a year after Molefe was incarcerated, the state still brought before court a case with such glaring omissions is an indictment of our criminal justice system.
• Hadebe is an independent communications adviser..