Suspended ANC Ward 25 Councillor in the City of Matlosana Local Municipality Tebogo Sepale is stressed at spending Christmas and New Year behind bars. He even insisted during his court appearance on Friday that he did not commit rape and sodomise any minors. Some of his victims, who are still minors, are stressing about getting good grades with the schools about to finish their fourth term examinations.
Meanwhile, Sepale's sexual misdemeanours are also investigated by the United States of America. In court last week Friday, it emerged from the investigating officer Kagiso Disipe that investigations also revealed that the American Embassy, the Department of Home, Land, and Security, and the Local Criminal Record Centre also found some information on Sepale’s mobile phone, including pornographic materials.
This included a video of him performing sexual acts with a minor. Despite this incriminating evidence, Sepale has made his intentions clear when he faces the magistrate next year, he is going to plead, not guilty. Even though he professes that once the docket has been availed to him, he will have an opportunity to deal with the allegations against him. Thereafter he will plead not guilty, he told the Orkney Magistrates Court last week Friday. He was denied bail, regardless.
He is set to appear at a higher court again in January 2024. Sepale faces Schedule 6 offences which come with a life sentence when found guilty. The State said that the Schedule 6 offences were based on the fact that all the victims in this matter are minor children. Two of the victims are school-going, and aged 15 and 17, respectively. In July, Sepale previously abandoned his bail application. Then on November 17, he took a stand to apply for bail, where he presented his evidence using an affidavit.
In his affidavit, he said he was confident that the State's case was weak against him, indicating that he knows that he did not commit any offences. He indicated that the allegations against him were unfounded and that they were made by people out to spite him. He also submitted that he was not a flight risk. Sepale said if he is released, he would not cause a sense of shock to the public. In his affidavit, he prayed to the court that he is the breadwinner of his two minor children, who live with their unemployed mother, he has two brothers, a sister, and his mother to support.
He also mentioned that he is on chronic medication, which he cannot access since his incarceration and further jailing him, would put his health at risk. While delivering judgment last Friday, Magistrate Benjamin Letsholo said, in his affidavit, Sepale had failed to address the merits of his case before the court in his bail application.
The Magistrate said he provided no detail that might have enhanced either his or their reliability or credibility on the charges he faces. He said a mere application with an affidavit denies the State an opportunity to cross-examine the accused, and it also denies the court the right to ask clarity-seeking questions. Magistrate Letsholo further said bail is an honest application, and the State has revealed that there is no evidence that Sepale’s wife and his family are (financially) taken care of by him.
An affidavit by the Investigating Officer, Kagiso Disipe was read out in court, and in it, details emerged, including an affidavit from a nurse, Nkagisang Ditlhobolo, confirmed that Sepale has been taken care of medically while awaiting trial in prison. Being investigated by the American Embassy, the Department of Home, Land, and Security, and the Local Criminal Record Centre, who confirmed the pornographic material and a video of him performing sexual acts with a minor, brought shock to the court.
The investigating officer Disipe said, previously there was a murder case against Sepale that withdrawn, amid the disappearance of the case docket. He said this was after his bail application was unsuccessful. But Disipe didn't mention the deceased person was during his submission. Lee-David Carolissen, who represents Sepale, said his client is disappointed with the outcome of the case after he denied bail. Carolissen said they had high hopes regarding the succession of the bail application.
He said after the court proceeding: "I will discuss the matter further and take instructions from my client regarding a possible appeal on the court's decision to deny him bail." Sepale's court appearance emanates from a report by the police indicating that the Klerksdorp Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offenses (FCS) Unit was investigating a case of crimen injuria and two separate counts of statutory rape after they were reported at Kanana Police Station.
In one of the cases, the suspect allegedly shared nude pictures with the complainant; and in the second and separate case involving the same suspect, two counts of statutory rape were laid on Saturday, May 6, 2023, by the parents of two boys aged 15 and 17. The State informed the court that they may add other charges when the matter goes to a higher court next year. Sepale woes continue as he remains behind bars until his next court appearance at the Klerksdorp Regional Court on January 17, 2024.
