AfriForum to prosecute Mbalula over Bergview College rape claim

Lobby group, AfriForum, has confirmed that African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula will face prosecution for crimen injuria over comments he made about former Bergview College principal Jaco Pieterse.

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had agreed to prosecute Mbalula after the lobby group challenged the decision not to prosecute him.

Pieterse laid criminal complaints against Mbalula, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema and Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade after they allegedly accused him of being involved in the rape of a seven-year-old girl, known publicly as Cwecwe.

AFRIFORUM CHALLENGES DECISION

The girl was allegedly raped at Bergview College in Matatiele in October 2024. The case sparked nationwide protests under the #JusticeForCwecwe banner in 2025.

However, the NPA later declined to prosecute anyone in connection with the alleged rape, saying there was insufficient evidence to support a successful prosecution and no conclusive evidence of rape or sexual assault.

According to AfriForum, Mbalula made the comments on 1 April 2025 while addressing the media following an ANC meeting.

He criticised AfriForum for representing Pieterse and referred to the principal as an “animal”, according to the organisation.

AfriForum’s head of private prosecutions, Gerrie Nel, said Pieterse’s dignity had been harmed by being publicly associated with the alleged rape despite not being a suspect in the case.

“The circumstances are particularly compelling given that he was publicly associated with the alleged rape of a seven-year-old child despite the fact that he had never been a suspect and despite the subsequent confirmation of the NPA that there was no evidence that the child had been raped,” Nel said.

NPA spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago says the DPP in Johannesburg South was approached by Afriforum to privately prosecute ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula on the Bergview College principal matter. He says Afriforum presented either new evidence or information.

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‘HE FULLY UNDERSTANDS THE HARM’

AfriForum Private Prosecution Unit spokesperson Barry Bateman said Mbalula understood the consequences of being falsely accused because he had previously approached the courts over allegations made against him.

“Mbalula therefore fully understands the harm caused by falsely accusing someone of committing a crime,” Bateman said.

He accused Mbalula of violating Pieterse’s right to dignity by publicly branding him a child rapist and an animal.