Picture: The suspended ANC councillor, Tebogo Sepale
By BAKANG MOKOTO
A rape case against embattled the ANC councillor in the City of Matlosana, Tebogo Sepale (43) has been postponed to 14 February 2024 by the Klerksdorp Regional Court for consultations before pre-trial conferencing. Sepale, who is allegedly suspended by the ANC is currently facing 11 charges.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson in North West, Henry Mamothame said Sepale is facing two counts of statutory rape, three for the violation of a child with consent, one for manufacturing pornographic material, four for rape, and one for sexual intimidation. Mamothame further said Sepale is currently in police custody after he was denied bail.
“His court appearance emanates from 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.
“In one of the cases, the suspect 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 on 6 May 2023, by the parents of two boys aged 15 and 17,” said Mamothame.
He added that Sepale will remain in police custody until the completion of the case.
Meanwhile, the ANC provincial chairperson, Nono Maloyi, disputed allegations that the ruling party had dismissed Sepale. Maloyi said he cannot confirm anything regarding Sepale because they have engaged the ANC’s Secretary General’s Office.
“You know that in the ANC, there is a constitution and as the ruling party, we need to follow suit. The unfortunate part is that we could not get hold of Sepale because he is incarcerated. Even if we would like to serve him with papers to appear before the disciplinary committee, he must be outside the prison.
“Our provincial secretary, Louis Diremelo has been interacting with the ANC Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula because as the officials of the ANC, we believe that a certain action must be taken in order to ensure that the name of the ANC is not put in disrepute,” he said.
Maloyi said as soon as Mbalula responded, they would be able to communicate the decision.
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