The National Prosecuting Authority is looking at the Cwecwe case docket again, this after the police resubmitted it to the director of public prosecutions for further consideration.
This was confirmed by NPA spokesperson advocate Mthunzi Mhaga on Sunday.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the prosecuting authority confirmed that in November 2024 a case docket had been presented to prosecutors in the Matatiele magistrate’s court and the court manager at the Matatiele Thuthuzela Care Centre.
It contained information on the suspected sexual assault of a minor girl.
But after assessing the contents, prosecutors at the court had reportedly concluded there was insufficient evidence for a successful prosecution.
No conclusive evidence of rape or sexual assault could be found after an interview and examination conducted on the seven-year-old girl.
It was also stated that the Eastern Cape DPP had later called for the docket and the prosecutors in the DPP’s office had looked at the matter and confirmed the decision made by the Matatiele prosecutors.
The decision was communicated to the police and the docket returned to them.
The DPP’s office, however, did not release a statement on the decision at the time as “doing so could have potential to compromise any ongoing police investigations”, the NPA said on Saturday.
But it also revealed that the police had since resubmitted the docket in Cwecwe’s case to the DPP’s office for further consideration.
Mhaga, on Sunday, admitted the case had generated a lot of public interest and uproar since it resurfaced in April.
As a result, the NPA had decided to communicate the earlier decision that had been taken.
“Any matter under investigation within the domain of the police renders it their responsibility to communicate.
“At the time the matter was declined, there was no obligation on the part of the prosecution because the docket had been returned to the police,” he said.
“At the time of the public outcry, we allowed the police to communicate on the matter.”
He said at the time it would have been insensitive of the NPA to communicate the decision due to the public uproar which would have added fuel to the matter.
“At the moment, we do not know what is in the docket, but we felt the need to communicate.
“We are not reconsidering, we will look at what they resubmit if there is anything new but our November 2024 decision stands.
“We never comment as the NPA when the police continue with their investigation, we only talk to our decision.
“It would have been insensitive and irresponsible of us to announce a decision during a nationwide uproar and public outcry, it could have been fuelling the fire,” Mhaga said.
Questions were also sent to national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe on the matter but she had not responded by the time of publication.
On Sunday, the young victim’s mother confirmed her family had been informed that the docket had been taken back to the DPP for further consideration.
However, she and the family had never been informed about the earlier decision not to prosecute.
Nevertheless, they were satisfied that there was progress in the police investigations.
Eastern Cape child rights activist Petros Majola, director and founder of Khula Community Development Projects, questioned why the issue had been kept under a veil of secrecy for about seven months.
“This incident happened in October last year and yet the information is being communicated only now.”
Men’s Sector national secretary-general Siya Ndesi also expressed unhappiness at the lack of communication on the case. He said the case had also been muddied by politics.
“Today there is evidence and tomorrow there is no evidence at all. We have been left disappointed ...
“There have been too many conflicting statements on this case. As lay people, we believe there was a case and even joined the protest outside the court in support of the family.
“Now we wish they can just give us facts on this case. At the end of the day this makes us lose confidence in our judiciary,” Ndesi said.
Daily Dispatch
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