The African National Congress (ANC) in the North West Province has expressed its disappointment in the manner in which the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is handling Tebogo Sepale's criminal cases that include statutory rape and cases, among others. The ANC in the province indicated that they have been following the court proceedings case on several occasions, but there has been no progress.
This was raised by ANC Provincial spokesperson Tumelo Maruping while speaking to Mo Media outside the Orkney Magistrates Court last week Wednesday, after Sepale’s brief court appearance. Maruping has also confirmed that Sepale, who has since been suspended, is also expected to appear before the Provincial Disciplinary Committee on November 5.
Sepale is the Ward 25 Councillor in the City of Matlosana Local Municipality. "The ANC has already processed the councillor in terms of disciplinary processes, and we are hoping we will be able to access him since the court processes have now halted us," he said. With regards to the salary that Sepale is still receiving from the municipality, Maruping said they are obliged to adhere to the rule of law as South Africans and as the ANC because the Labour Relations Act allows a person to receive a salary up until an outcome of the allegations are reached, and the matter is finalised.
Sepale accused faces 11 provisional charges - amongst them statutory rape, child violation without consent, manufacturing pornographic material, rape, and sexual intimidation. In court, Sepale was represented by another lawyer, Carolissen Lee-David, from the same law firm as Kobus Burger, who had previously represented him during the postponement of the case, which is still under police investigations.
Carolissen had asked the court for a postponement so that he could engage with his colleague, Kobus Burger and that the matter would require time to transfer to the regional court for the accused's first appearance. Carolissen had also told the court that there are arrangements between his office and Burger's office to implement formal bail application.
On July 17, Burger told the court that, say after consulting with his client (Sepale) decided to abandon his bail application. Sepale's case was postponed to November 1 for further investigations and a formal bail application. In a statement, the NPA said the state was ready to propose a date for the matter to be transferred to a higher court for pre-trial conferencing as the investigations have been completed.
The NPA also said the transfer will now await the completion of the bail application, which the state intends to oppose. Sepale’s court appearance emanates from a report by the police indicating that the Klerksdorp Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences 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; in a second, separate case involving the same suspect, two counts of statutory rape were laid on Saturday, May 6, by the parents of two boys aged 15 and 17. Sepale will remain in police custody pending the outcome of his bail application.
