The AfriForum Private Prosecution Unit secured yet another victory in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) with the conviction of Irvin Thabo Ngobeni for the assault on his neighbour, Nthabiseng Sebothoma.
On Wednesday, the Mamelodi Magistrates Court sentenced Ngobeni to a fine of R6 000 or three months imprisonment wholly suspended for five years. Sebothoma approached AfriForum earlier this year because the police failed to properly investigate the case, and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) later declined to prosecute it.
In the early hours of 23 September last year, Sebothoma was woken up by Ngobeni, her neighbour in Moretele View, claiming that someone had thrown his car keys onto the roof of her house, and he wanted access to the property so he could find them.
When Sebothoma told him to return the next day, he became verbally abusive and threatened to kill her. When she denied him access to the property, he assaulted her by punching and kicking her, as well scratching and ripping her clothes. The court found Sebothoma to be a reliable witness and accepted her version of events which was corroborated by her brother.
After the proceedings, Sebothoma said she was disappointed at what she perceives as a lenient sentence, but also relieved because all she ever wanted was for justice to be served.
AfriForum prosecutor Advocate Phyllis Vorster told the court during sentence argument, that Ngobeni should be sent to jail. “The accused is a bully. He assaulted his neighbour in the privacy of her own yard by kicking her, slapping her with open hands, punching her with fists, hitting her head against the wall and the steel part of the gate and scratching her with his fingernails.
“Despite the lip service paid to the fight against gender-based violence and strengthened legislation to deal with this societal scourge and even a yearly period of action and reflection on gender-based violence, the criminal justice system has failed victims in general and this victim in particular that she had to resort to private prosecution to get justice,” she said.
Advocate Gerrie Nel, head of the unit, said that this is yet another example of the criminal justice system’s failure to do more than lip service to the scourge of GBV. The irrational decision not to prosecute, in spite of representations made by the victim, and taking into account the already low reporting of these crimes is symptomatic of the criminal justice system’s approach to the pandemic of GBV. Like in the Alexi Bizos matter there is no doubt that the NPA failed the victims.
“This was an uncomplicated case of assault yet seemingly too difficult or too much of an inconvenience for the state to pursue. Yet, it is these types of cases, often overlooked by the police as not being serious enough, where the real fight against gender-based violence needs to be taking place. Perpetrators of such violence need to know that laying a finger on a women or a child will lead to a conviction,” said Nel.
Sebothoma, supported by her family, decided not to accept an injustice and we hope that this success encourages the vulnerable in society to reject the failure of the criminal justice system and to stand for what is right.
Despite our criticism of the criminal justice system, we must commend the Mamelodi Magistrate’s Court on the efficiency and professionalism with which this matter was handled.