Police Unable to Interview Cwecwe

Protesters marched in Johannesburg last week Tuesday, demanding more transparency and accountability from the state with regard to the alleged rape of a seven-year-old-girl in Matatiele.

The police team investigating the rape of a seven-year-old girl in Matatiele, Eastern Cape, told Parliament on Tuesday they have been unable to speak to the child.

The child’s mother has refused access so that police can take down statements from the girl, known publicly as Cwecwe, SAPS deputy national commissioner Tebello Mosikili told Parliament’s police portfolio committee. Social workers have not been able to provide psychosocial support, Mosikili said.

Mosikili said that although Cwecwe received initial psychosocial support after the incident in October 2024, support should have continued to help her identify the perpetrator.

The slow pace of the police’s investigation sparked nationwide protests last month. Cwecwe’s mother spoke out, lamenting the police’s inefficiency.

She also claimed that the principal at Bergview College in Matatiele, the school Cwecwe was attending, was a suspect who had refused to provide DNA evidence. Afriforum, who is representing the principal, has said that the principal is not a suspect. This has been confirmed by the police.

According to Mosikili, Cwecwe’s mother refused to let police and forensic social workers talk to her on two occasions last week. The mother also refused psycho-social support for herself.

This has “further delayed the investigation”, Mosikili said.

But Cwecwe’s mother, speaking to GroundUp, said that the child has not been feeling well for a while. She said that Cwecwe often complains of stomach pains and she has asked the social worker to wait until she is feeling better.

She said that the child is still “fragile” and that the police called at short notice to speak to Cwecwe. “At times you would find that I’m at work and the child is at school. Then when I ask to reschedule it would become an issue,” she said.

It was revealed in Parliament that Cwecwe’s family has moved to a place of safety.

Cwecwe’s mother told GroundUp they moved because they do not feel safe, and they decided to move without the help of the police because the police were insisting that the mother’s husband, Cwecwe’s step-father, stays behind. “I don’t trust them,” she said.

After the nationwide protests, the police appointed the head of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Investigations Unit, Major General Mmantsheke Lekhele, to head the investigation.

Mosikili said on Wednesday that, to date, 30 statements have been taken, mainly from the staff at Bergview College. Also interviewed were medical staff who examined the child, other children who were with her around the time of the incident, and family members.

Mosikili said that DNA samples had been collected from persons of interest for forensic analysis. But no-one else’s DNA had been found on the child’s clothing.

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