ANC defends Mbalula amid criminal charges over comments on rape case

THE ANC has come to the defense of its Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula, after Bergview College principal Jaco Pieterse filed criminal charges against him.

- MASHUDU SADIKE

Pieterse, represented by AfriForum’s Private Prosecuting Unit, alleges that Mbalula, along with EFF leader Julius Malema and Eastern Cape Education MEC Fundile Gade, violated his dignity by falsely accusing him of raping a child.

Pieterse claims the trio publicly accused him of raping a 7-year-old girl after her mother suspected that she was raped; however, medical reports have since found that there was no evidence of sexual assault.

The ANC has slammed AfriForum’s decision to pursue the matter, calling it “disingenuous, ideologically driven and flawed.”

The party maintains that defending outrage against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) is not a crime.

“We will not apologise for speaking out in defence of the voiceless,” ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu wrote in a statement.

“We call on all progressive forces, including our Alliance partners, the ANC Women’s League, youth formations, religious and community organisations, to reject any effort to criminalise outrage and moral clarity in the face of GBV-F,” Bhengu added.