Suspended ANC councillor in North West charged with statutory rape to seek bail

A 43-year-old man is facing 11 provisional charges, two for statutory rape, three for the violation of a child with consent, one for manufacturing pornographic material, four for rape and one for sexual intimidation . File photo.
A 43-year-old man is facing 11 provisional charges, two for statutory rape, three for the violation of a child with consent, one for manufacturing pornographic material, four for rape and one for sexual intimidation . File photo.
Image: 123RF/Andriy Popov

A suspended ANC councillor from Matlosana local municipality in Northwest who is charged with sexual offences against minors will have to provide the prosecution with a formal bail affidavit after changing his mind about remaining in custody pending trial.

Tebogo Sepale's defence attorney is expected to prepare a bail affidavit and provide it to the state by November 8 for the prosecution to prepare its papers for the bail hearing.

This comes after the 43-year-old had previously registered an intention to apply for bail but decided not to after consulting with his attorney.

“After the bail proceedings, the state will make an application to the Director of Public Prosecutions for the matter to be transferred to a higher court for pretrial conferencing, as investigations have been completed,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Henry Mamothame said.

Sepale is facing 11 charges — two for 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 said the state may add other charges when the matter goes to a higher court.

He said Sepale's court appearance emanates from a police report 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 reported at Kanana police station.

“In one of the cases, the suspect allegedly shared a nude picture of his private parts with the complainant, in the second and separate case, but involving the same suspect, two counts of statutory rape were laid on Saturday May 6 by the parents of two boys aged 15 and 17,” he said.

Mamothame said Sepale will remain in police custody pending the outcome of his bail application.

The Orkney magistrate's court has postponed the case to November 17 for the formal bail application.

TimesLIVE


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