#Justice4Cwecwe: But Where is the Justice?

(The Post Script)- It has been seven months since little Cwecwe’s mother opened up a rape case for her daughter, approximately weeks since she broke her silence on the internet about the lack of progress, and a full month since the country united in protests. But justice has yet to be served as South Africa continues to soar with one of the highest gender-based violence rates against women and children- rape being at the top of the list.

Although a medical examination was carried out on Cwecwe, prosecutors have refused to prosecut the matter as they alluded to “insufficient evidence” for what Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, calls a “complex case.”

It is worth noting that one of the primary suspects has been reported to have been the principal of the school where the crime was alleged to have taken place. Despite social uproar, the principal has refused to submit his DNA. AfriForum later made a statement to represent the suspected principal.

It was later speculated that the principal had finally agreed to submit his DNA, to which Minister Mchunu allegedly confirmed and cleared him as a suspect. 

Society then took to it online about how suspicious it was that, after months of the principal’s refusal to submit his DNA, he was cleared with little-to-no question. The online community even went to the extent of accusing the minister of accepting bribes to alter the results. 

Minister Mchunu quickly refuted the allegations with an official police statement, asserting that he “never made any statement,” nor did he clear the principal as a suspect. He instead assured the public that the police ministry is doing everything in its power to ensure that each component of the case is being “examined carefully and comprehensively”. 

The country has since then criticized President Cyril Ramaphosa for his continuous silence on the matter, calling him out for neglecting the gender-based violence epidemic that continues to surge across the country of South Africa.

As the country awaits the long overdue justice for Cwecwe, after a full month since the protests and still no word from the president, it is hard not to wonder whether or not justice will prevail, or if the seven-year-old girl has become a part of the names lost in the growing statistics.