Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

AfriForum intervention leads to prosecution in alleged drink-spiking rape case

More than a year after pressure from AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit compelled the South African Police Service (SAPS) to investigate a serious case of gender-based violence, the man accused of spiking his neighbour’s drink and raping her will finally be prosecuted. The victim, a single mother whose identity is being withheld, woke up in hospital one morning in April last year, bloodied and bruised, with no memory of what had happened after she was given a glass of wine the previous evening. While she was waking up in hospital, her relatives arrived at her flat in the Moot area and found blood throughout the home.

The accused made a brief appearance in the Pretoria Magistrates Court today. His identity may not be revealed until he pleads to the charges. The matter was postponed to 5 November for disclosure of the docket to the defence.

Despite the matter being reported in April last year, the police had still not taken statements from the woman or potential witnesses by July, after which she approached AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit. A criminal case was only registered on 22 July 2025, a day after the Unit escalated the matter to the Provincial Head of the police’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit. AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit had to approach the Provincial FCS Unit after the failure of the Moot police station’s FCS Unit to respond to requests to register a case docket and investigate the matter.

The victim, whose identity is being withheld

The complainant, who herself hounded the police to ensure the matter was progressing, expressed relief that the matter was finally enrolled. “If I did not ask for help from Advocates Phyllis Vorster and Gerrie Nel, and if we did not press this matter further, I honestly think they would have just lifted the rug and shoved it underneath it,” the victim says.

“It took a lot of phone calls and a lot of praying and a lot of ‘please, just show up to do your job’, and eventually things started happening. I’m glad they did something, because now we can actually go to court and prove my case. I think Gerrie [Nel], Phyllis [Vorster] and AfriForum made it possible for me to get to the point where we actually have a court date.”

The victim alleges that she was invited to her neighbour’s flat for a drink on the evening of 20 April 2025. She recalls tasting something extremely bitter before losing all memory of the night and waking up at Tshwane District Hospital the following day. When relatives went to her flat after being unable to reach her, they found blood spatter on the floors and walls, as well as the neighbour’s gown in her bedroom. Her clothes were later found at his home. She was examined at a private hospital that evening, where samples were collected for a rape kit and doctors reported the matter to the police.

Barry Bateman, Spokesperson for the Unit, says this court appearance follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s big announcement of an audit and recovery plan for gender-based violence cases that have stalled or been abandoned. “The uphill battle to get this matter properly investigated and eventually enrolled is a testament to the absolute disregard the authorities have for gender-based violence cases. AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit has been fighting this apathy since its inception in 2017,” says Bateman.

“In recent weeks the Unit highlighted several cases, including rapes, attempted murders and assaults against women in which the suspects have been on the run for as long as five years. We have yet to hear back from the police, and this failure to respond does not bode well for the successful implementation of the President’s plan to turn things around.”