Child rape victim and witnesses attend court – magistrate attends “wellness seminar” instead
A magistrates’ “wellness seminar” took precedence over the trial of a mother and stepfather accused of sexual offences committed against the woman’s daughter when she was just five years old. The magistrate, Ms. Dube failed to appear at the Brits Magistrates’ Court yesterday (23 July 2026) due to the “unforeseen circumstances”, as described by the prosecutor, of having to attend the event in Rustenburg. Meanwhile, the young girl and all the witnesses were present for the start of the trial that was set down for two days.
AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit represents the girl and her foster parents, and ensured that the matter was enrolled after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) initially declined to prosecute. The two accused face charges of rape, sexual assault, and failure to immediately report a sexual offence against a child. The offences allegedly took place in 2018.
The case has been beset by delays. On two previous occasions, although the complainant was ready to testify, the matter was postponed because either an interpreter or an intermediary was unavailable. On another occasion, the matter was postponed after the magistrate reportedly experienced vehicle trouble and was unable to attend court. None of the parties, including the accused, were informed of the magistrate’s attendance at a “wellness seminar”, which prevented the trial from proceeding, and all arrived at court expecting the trial to commence.
“The criminal justice system has truly collapsed if the judiciary allows the wellness of presiding officers to take precedence over the wellbeing of the most vulnerable members of society,” says Barry Bateman, spokesperson for AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit.
“This is a shocking indictment of the criminal justice system and a failure to ensure that the best interests of a child remain the paramount consideration. Every time this matter is set down for court, the girl relives her ordeal as she prepares to testify. She has been subjected to years of secondary trauma, while the very system that is supposed to protect her continues to drag its feet, seemingly disinterested in helping her close this traumatic chapter of her life and simply allowing her to be a child,” said Bateman.
The unit is not identifying the parents in order to protect the identity of the child. The offences allegedly took place when she was just five years old, and the case docket opened soon thereafter. She is now 14-years-old and a vibrant teenager in the care of her foster parents, who approached the Private Prosecution Unit after the NPA declined to prosecute the case. Following the unit’s intervention, the matter was eventually enrolled in July last year and set down to start trial on 16 February this year, but was subsequently postponed to May, then to yesterday, and has now been postponed until November.
The unit will write to the Regional Court President and the Magistrates Commission to formally register its concerns regarding the treatment of a child victim of a heinous crime, and the repeated delays in starting the trial.
The case was postponed to 25 and 26 November for trial.
