Rape of 7-year-old girl triggers widespread protests in South Africa: Video
Thousands of Gender-based Violence activists and protesters swamped the streets of Cape Town, South Africa in solidarity with a seven-year-old girl allegedly raped last year.
Holding placards with messages like "She is only 7" and "Justice for Cwecwe", chants of "We want justice" reverberated through the streets of Pretoria, Durban and Johannesburg on Tuesday, April 1.
"Why do we have to go to these extreme measures? It's crazy to me; it's absurd, it's insane. We don’t have to cry this loud to be heard," said Kim Shandu, a student in Cape Town who is utterly disappointed in the justice delivery system in South Africa.
Janine de Vos, a mother-of-two who was at the Cape Town demonstration also echoed this sentiment when she told AFP "Our justice system always fails us, I have no, no, no trust in our justice system and something needs to be done and someone needs to take accountability of whats happening with our children out there."
Cwecwe, who is now 8 was allegedly raped on her school premises, Bergview College in October 2024 while waiting for her transport back home. The case is, however, catching fire after her mother shared her quest for justice some two weeks ago.
Despite the public uproar and outcry, no arrest has been made so far. But South Africa's police minister, Senzo Mchunu, shared last week that his outfit was seriously investigating the case and had even identified three suspects including staff of the school.
This case is one of many witnessed in South Africa over the years, and it has had slow justice proceedings, too.
In a separate incident, police on Tuesday, April 1 reported the arrest of a primary school teacher accused of raping a 13-year-old student in northern South Africa.
According to United Nations figures, one in three women in South Africa suffers violence or sexual abuse in their lifetimes.
Between 2023 and 2024, out of 42,500 rape cases reported, police data indicates that 17,000 involved children. However, only 449 child rape cases were brought to trial during the period.
