Betrayed and powerless — lack of justice fails South Africa’s traumatised victims of abuse

Last weekend, as I worked my monthly Sunday shift, I received a WhatsApp message from a friend expressing her surprise that she had just been in the airport emigration queue with the infamous televangelist Timothy Omotoso.

He was apparently escorted to the queue in a flurry of police and media before slipping into the South African Airways lounge, where he waited for his flight back to Nigeria as though any other traveller. Shocked and incredulous, I warned my friend to be careful around him, although my incredulity soon dissolved into a sense of powerlessness because it was our criminal justice system that had allowed him his freedom.

Being made to leave the country and getting banned for five years hardly seems a fitting punishment for the horrors to which multiple witnesses, who had been Omotoso’s congregants, testified in his eight-year trial.

Lest we forget, this is a man who had been charged with multiple counts of rape, sexual assault and human trafficking. These are serious charges, especially in a country overwhelmed by gender-based violence.

Omotoso, however, was acquitted on account of the State not presenting strong enough evidence for an airtight prosecution. He was subsequently found to be in South Africa illegally, for overstaying his visa and having entered the country on a false permit. This offence carries a five-year ban, but what happens after that?

Significantly, in March, the gender activist Pamela Mabini, who blew the whistle on Omotoso, was shot and killed by unknown gunmen in the driveway of her home in Gqeberha. Her murder prompted Human Rights Watch to publish an article calling for whistle-blowers to be protected and our legal system to be strengthened.

“Mabini’s killing has once again raised concerns about whistle-blowers’ safety in South Africa, as many face retaliation, loss of livelihood and even loss of life. It has also highlighted the woeful limitations and inadequacy of the existing legal framework and the dire need to strengthen regulatory bodies such as the Public Protector and Human Rights Commission,” it said.

This highlights the perpetuation of violence that is twofold for victims of abuse: speaking out gets you targeted, and weak law enforcement and prosecution could lead to your death. Understandably, this serves as a deterrent for others suffering a similar plight to come forward.

Also last weekend, the National Prosecuting Authority did not cover itself in glory when it declared that it would not prosecute the case of seven-year-old Cwecwe’s alleged rape. It said there was “insufficient evidence upon which a successful prosecution could be instituted, as no conclusive evidence of rape or sexual assault could be found after an interview and examination conducted on the minor girl”.

Instances like these have caused an outcry from social justice organisations, which have pointed out how they erode victims’ confidence in our justice system’s ability to protect them.

In both the Cwecwe and Omotoso cases, people who are considered to be among the most vulnerable in our country have found no justice or solace. One can only imagine how betrayed and powerless they feel. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.