âââ OLEBOGENG MOTSE 12:58 Thu, 10 Jun 2021
Criminal proceedings into the alleged sexual assault of a 5-year-old minor from Reitz around 2019, have commenced following pressure on authorities from the lobby group, Afriforum.
The lobby groupâs campaign manager, Jacques Broodryk, tells OFM News that an exasperated relative of the then five-year-old victim approached them in October 2019 seeking their assistance after the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Free State (DPP) decided not to prosecute the alleged perpetrator.
Afriforumâs private prosecution unit probed the matter, finding that pertinent statements of several witnesses were not taken by the police when the case was initially opened. The case was thereafter reopened by the police, and it was subsequently discovered that the suspect was linked to other sexual offences in the area.
âââ OLEBOGENG MOTSE 15:11 Wed, 12 May 2021 Provincial Police Commissioner, Baile Motswenyane PHOTO: Olebogeng Motse
Free State law enforcement agencies concede that they have failed to competently handle the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) in the province.
The Acting Free State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Navilla Somaru, and Provincial Police Commissioner, Baile Motswenyane, admitted during day one of the first GBV and Femicide Indaba held at Bobbiespark in Bloemfontein on Tuesday 12 May, that the situation in the province with regards to the issue is quite dire at this stage. Somaru cautions that many Free State towns and cities are ranked amongst the places with the highest sexually-based offenses and gender-based violence statistics/case numbers in the country, making specific mention of Botshabelo, Bronville in Welkom, and Phuthaditjhaba.