The rape of a seven-year-old girl in Matatiele has continued to haunt the country with some pointing fingers of Bergview College principal as one of the suspects. However, lobby group AfriForum has come out in defence of the principal and warned the Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, of grave legal consequences.
AfriForum claimed that for a week, Mchunu remained silent as false and defamatory allegations against the principal were made, exacerbated by his false claims in a press release that the educator was implicated, which were repeated and amplified across social media and news outlets.
The organisation added that the principal was publicly humiliated over the 'fictitious' accusation that he hampered a police investigation into the rape of a student. Mchunu was accused of deliberately keeping quiet.
"The conviction of an innocent person by social media detectives and prominent individuals seeking political gain should never be allowed to happen and overshadow those authorised to impose the rule of law. It is impossible to defend against a frenzy of baseless, uninformed allegations when the key to setting the record straight remains silent," said advocate Gerrie Nel, head of AfriForum's Private Prosecution Unit.
Mchunu, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade, and EFF leader Julius Malema have all been listed as potential prosecution targets, added the group.
Additionally, if the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) fails to prosecute certain cases, the unit will pursue private prosecutions.
Nel went on to say that the principal and the community have suffered greatly as a result of the police's inability to correct the record.
"The police have a constitutional duty to prevent, combat and investigate crime. It also must maintain public order and protect the public. The SAPS and the Police Ministry have failed at both these duties.
"This failure and the contributing disinformation campaign by at least the Minister of Police has turned an innocent man’s life upside down and exposed him to an ordeal of undeserved life-threatening exposure. Bergview College, its staff, the learners and their parents became collateral damage in an entirely avoidable, smear campaign."
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