Cwecwe rape case: Police officials grilled as suspect still not identified

The police have not yet been able to identify a suspect in the case of the seven-year-old Matatiele girl who was allegedly raped at her school in October last year.

Parliamentarians expressed their dissatisfaction over the handling of the #JusticeForCwecwe case on Tuesday during a special meeting with Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police. The case has sparked national outrage.

During the briefing, top police officials explained the progress made in the investigation and response to the case as well as the challenges the Saps have faced.

Police investigation hits snags in Cwecwe case

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola repeatedly emphasised that the police didn’t become involved only after the case triggered protests across the country.

The police confirmed that a case was opened on 16 October 2024 at Matatiele Police Station and investigations began then. However, the lack of clear evidence or statements from the victim complicated the case.

Mchunu said the elevation of the case and the appointment of the head of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Investigations (FCS) unit Major General Mmantsheke Lekhele happened when it became clear that the case was complex.

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“As it became clearer and clearer that it was a complex matter, we could have raised and elevated the investigation much earlier than we did to senior police, which would have created some stability,” Mchunu said.

According to deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, since the national intervention team was appointed, 30 statements have been taken from Bergview College staff members, the medical personnel who examined the victim, children who were with the victim around the time when the incident happened and her family.

Masemola added that investigators will take more statements.

Bergview College principal not a person of interest

Although DNA samples have been collected from all the people of interest, police have not yet identified any suspects, and the investigation continues.

The police’s top brass clarified that investigators do not consider Bergview College principal Jaco Pieterse a person of interest.

Masemola said investigators did not collect the principal’s DNA samples because the school operates across three campuses and he was not at the junior school.

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Lobby group AfriForum has recently criticised the police and Mchunu for failing to clarify that Pieterse was not a person of interest.

The minister, however, said the group incorrectly quoted him as saying that investigators collected DNA from the principal.

“It can be construed that I said so, but there’s no such in the statement itself,” Mchunu said.

Challenges causing delays

Mosikili also highlighted the challenges that are causing delays in the case, including the fact that the investigation team has not been able to fully access the victim for additional statements and psycho-social assistance from the forensic social worker due to the victim being sick.

Mosikili said the police are waiting for the victim’s mother to confirm when the forensic social worker, who was appointed in October 2024, can see the victim and the mother.

“The intention and the purpose are to take both of them in an environment that is relaxed and conducive to matters of this nature,” Lekhele explained.

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The FSC unit head added that in these cases, victims are not only spoken to once or twice, as the forensic social worker needs to prepare and assist them to deal with what happened and what is happening.

Masemola said the police are giving the family space to deal with the victim’s illness, but they won’t wait forever.

He added that investigators have identified gaps in the case and those responsible for the shortcomings will face accountability.

Watch the briefing on the investigation and response to the Cwecwe case here:

“We are definitely going to ensure that we do our best to make sure that this case is investigated very, very thoroughly, and we are doing that,” the national police commissioner said.

Meanwhile, the minister welcomed the national #JusticeForCwecwe protests.

“We welcome the action and activism of South Africans, whether on social media or physically, on this, because it is only when people demonstrate their rejection of things like these that we can move forward, because criminals come from communities and hide in communities,” Mchunu said.

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