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’s Private Prosecution Unit rejects false claims it’s protecting a rape suspect

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit rejects with contempt any suggestion that the unit is protecting a suspected rapist from investigation. The unit represents Jaco Pieterse, Principal of Bergview College in Matatiele. Pieterse is not a suspect in the rape case involving a learner at the school, nor have the South African Police Service (SAPS) ever regarded him as a suspect that would justify their request for a buccal sample for DNA testing. Further, it is the unit’s understanding that Pieterse had no contact with the victim prior to the offence being committed, nor is there any evidence that the offence took place on school grounds.

The Investigating Officer’s informal request that Pieterse provide a buccal sample was made at the behest of the victim’s mother. Therefore, it is patently untrue that Pieterse has not co-operated with the Police in their investigation. On the contrary, in a letter to the Matatiele Police Station Commander dated 17 February 2025, the AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit made it abundantly clear that Pieterse will “cooperate with the SAPS and consider any request within the scope of the Criminal Procedure Act”. To request a buccal sample from someone who is not a suspect, and without following procedure as per the applicable legislation, is an abuse of process.

In the correspondence, the unit noted that the victim’s mother is an employee of the SAPS and that “it is concerning that a complainant appears to be directing such a serious investigation, which should be led by a Police Detective’s expert discretion and expertise”. We must accept that the Investigating Officer applied the necessary discretion and expertise based on the evidence and concluded that Pieterse is not a suspect. We must further accept that the seven-year-old victim is able to identify the rapist and provide details of the incident – yet, Pieterse is not a suspect.

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit challenges the SAPS to provide the evidence to support any suspicion that Pieterse is linked to the case.

Notably, the unit told the Police in correspondence that this abuse of process puts Pieterse in an untenable position in which agreeing to the request for a sample raises the suspicion that he is a suspect, and rejecting the request raises the same suspicion.

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit has an outstanding track record of fighting for women and children, which demonstrates the unit’s commitment to protecting the most vulnerable members of society. Gender-based violence is a scourge that demands tough action. The unit recently represented a young woman who was raped as a child after her rapists (Morné and Marinus Kemp) were not arrested following the dismissal of their appeal against conviction. The unit also represents Felicia Mkondo (who consented to being identified) who approached the unit for help after alleging that the Prosecutor assigned to her rape case was ill-treating her, subjecting her to secondary trauma, and that evidence had gone missing from the docket.

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit is disgusted by any crime committed against women and children and has steadfastly supported the Police in their efforts to identify and prosecute offenders. This case is no different.