Prince Kaybee defends his comments that victims ought to 'report rape immediately'
Following backlash, musician Prince Kaybee has defended his comments about rape victims reporting the incident immediately, after a fellow tweep told him not to speak on things he's yet to experience himself.
Joining the rest of Mzansi in the conversation around rape and how the justice system deals with the horrific act, Prince Kaybee took to his TL to advise victims to “Please report rape immediately”.
PLEASE REPORT RAPE IMMEDIATELY ❗️
— PROJECT HOPE (@PrinceKaybee_SA) February 16, 2021
Prince Kaybee's tweet caught fire on the TL and ignited a heated debate, with some pointing out Kaybee's male privilege, while others praised him for his advice.
One tweep in particular fetched the DJ and told him in a now-deleted tweet to refrain from giving such advice as a man, and as a person who hasn't experienced rape, and therefore can't possibly understand the psychological effects left on a victim that may cause them not to report the rape immediately.
Prince was not willing to let the tweet slide, saying there was nothing wrong with him raising awareness and alerting people on what he thinks is the right thing to do.
“We must not raise awareness and alert people about the right thing to do because we haven’t gone through them? So a person that didn’t go to school cannot advise a child to go to school? Voe****!
“Also, when we are quiet y’all call us trash,” Prince Kaybee tweeted.
The DJ added another scathing tweet, telling the tweep to sit out the conversation until she knew better.
Sit this one out nana, I get the trauma part but the stuff about only victims can raise awareness is off, it DID NOT land at all. Sometimes ask your friends before you tweet so that you prevent embarrassing yourself ❤️ https://t.co/irBPz4LlXL
— PROJECT HOPE (@PrinceKaybee_SA) February 16, 2021
Prince's fans supported him while others were put off by the vulgar language he used to address the tweep in the now-deleted tweets.
Read the rest of the interaction below:
She’s worse, according to her you can’t raise awareness socially because you are not a victim, she wanted to seem clever but it ddnt land.
— PROJECT HOPE (@PrinceKaybee_SA) February 16, 2021
While Prince Kaybee did not specify where his advice to “report rape immediately” sprang from, tweeps made the assumption that his thoughts were in reaction to the now dismissed rape case against popular DJs, Thato “DJ Fresh” Sikwane and Themba “Euphonik” Nkosi.
This is because earlier this week, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that a rape case against DJ duo had been dismissed due to “insufficient evidence”.
According to NPA North Gauteng regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the docket was presented to the prosecutor who, due to a lack of sufficient evidence against the pair, decided not to prosecute.
“With regards to the DJs Fresh and Euphonik matter, the docket was indeed presented to the prosecutor. Upon perusal of all the available evidence in the docket, a decision not to prosecute was taken. There are no prospects of successful prosecution on the available evidence, because the evidence is insufficient,” Lumka explained.
The rape allegations against the duo came to light early last month after a woman took to Twitter to make the accusations. Then in an exclusive interview with TshisaLIVE the woman explained that the alleged incident happened in 2011 when she was still a student.
The TL continued to debate Prince Kaybee's comment in light of the DJ duo's situation. Here are some of the thoughts shared below:
Perhaps the focus should be on “Men not raping” The privileged vantage point on speaking about things that affect women the most - is tricky. Granted, rape happens across the gender spectrum. Let’s not dictate how violated women should navigate their trauma also.
— David Tshabalala (@SlayingGoliath) February 16, 2021
Fair
— David Tshabalala (@SlayingGoliath) February 16, 2021
Raising awareness about social issues and head-spearing a profession you did not study for is two different things mate❤️
— PROJECT HOPE (@PrinceKaybee_SA) February 16, 2021