Picture: ANC councillor, Tebogo Sepale back in court/Facebook
By OBAKENG MAJE
The disgraced ANC councillor, Tebogo Sepale (43), who is facing 11 provisional charges, two for statutory rape, three for the violation of a child with consent, one for manufacturing pornographic material, four for rape and one for sexual intimidation set to briefly appear at the Orkney Magistrate’s Court today.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson in North West, Henry Mamothame said: “In one of the cases, Sepale allegedly shared nude pictures with the complainant, in the second and separate case, but involving the same suspect, two counts of statutory rape were laid against him on 6 May 2023 by the parents of two boys aged 15 and 17.
“He will remain in police custody until his next court appearance. A report by the police indicating that the Klerksdorp Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit, was investigating a case of crimen injuria and two separate counts of statutory rape after they were reported at Kanana Police Station respectively.”
Mamothame further said the Orkney Magistrate’s Court postponed the case to 24 August 2023 for further investigations. He added that, the state is now awaiting the conclusion of investigations to possibly add more charges against Sepale in preparation for trial.
Meanwhile, the Sonke Gender Justice is outraged to learn that Sepale allegedly continues to earn a salary as a ward councillor in the Matlosana Local Municipality, while in prison. The Sonke Gender Justice and Co-Chairperson of the Global Men Engage Alliance, Bafana Khumalo alleged that ANC said its hands are tied from removing him from its employee’s list, as it can only be done once he is granted bail.
“This lack of action by the ruling party demonstrates one more time that they do not take Gender-Based Violence, Femicide and sexual violence seriously. It is unbelievable that, a party that professes to be committed to end sexual violence acts in this manner when one of their own is caught on the wrong side of the law.
“We all understand the principle of ‘no work no pay’, but by ANC standards this only applies to others and not their own. Why is a councillor sitting in prison being paid as he is not offering any service behind a cell? One wonders how this expense will be justified in an audit,” Khumalo said.
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