Euphonik and DJ Fresh. Picture: Twitter
After initially claiming to have no knowledge of the rape case against DJ Fresh and Euphonik being reopened, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson for North Gauteng Lumka Mahanjana has officially stated that there is currently no change in the status of the case.
“The status of the matter remains the same, no new information has come to light,” said Mahanjana in a statement.
“However, in a case where there has been no prosecution, investigation strands that were not initially pursued because of time limitations, for example, might be pursued to see if they will yield anything new. That might perhaps lead to a reconsideration of the matter,” added Mahanjana.
This means that the case has not officially been re-opened as previously reported. However, Mahanjane confirmed to The Citizen that this does not rule out the possibility of this case or a separate case being established if an investigation yields additional evidence.
On Sunday, City Press reported that DJ’s Fresh and Euphonik (Thato Sikwane and Themba Nkosi) were set to “face new heat” as the case against them had been reopened.
The case in question is a case that was opened by an accuser who initially took to Twitter in early 2021 to claim that the pair had drugged and raped her at a party a decade prior. The Twitter user identified as @Nampree later opened a formal case at a police station.
The accuser’s lawyer Brenda Madumise-Pajibo, told the publication that police had informed her client that the case had been reopened but they did not explain the reason why this decision had been taken. It was also not clear which case this was in reference to.
In addition to her case against the two DJs, Madumise-Pajibo’s client had taken exception to how the police conducted themselves in the process of investigating. She had reportedly even gone as far as taking her grievances to police commissioner Kehla Sithole.
“We’ve been very consistent. We’ve also taken up this dispute with the Public Protector. We suspect that because the Public Protector is going to ask questions, the police have decided to say they are reopening the case,” Madumise-Pajibo told the publication.
Speaking to The Citizen about these recent developments on Tuesday, Madumise-Pajibo simply said “the Saps has decided to reopen the investigation of this matter. For any clarification, Saps can be contacted to confirm.”
She would not be drawn on any further details.
Last year, the NPA announced that they would not be prosecuting the Fresh and Euphonik because their investigation into the matter showed that there were “no prospects of a successful prosecution on the available evidence” because the evidence they had before them at the time was considered insufficient.
The Citizen had previously reached out to both DJ Fresh and Euphonik for comment and have not yet received a response.
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