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A woman who was allegedly sexually violated with a spoon has approached Afriforum's Private Prosecution Unit (PPU) to take on her case.
Felicia Mkondo, who consented to be identified, approached the unit, stating that the prosecutor assigned to the case was ill treating her, exposing her to secondary trauma and that evidence had gone missing from the docket.
Private Prosecutor Obed Tongoane and complainant Felicia Mkondo
The accused appeared in court on Thursday and may only be identified once he has pleaded.
Spokesperson for the unit, Barry Bateman, says while the accused faces charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and sexual harassment, the unit has written twice to a senior public prosecutor to argue that rape should be added because there is ample evidence to support the charge.
He says both letters have gone unanswered.
The alleged offences took place over a two year period between February 2020 and December 2022 when Mkondo was in a romantic relationship with the accused.
Bateman says according to Mkondo she was subjected to physical and sexual violence, such as inserting a tablespoon into her private parts while she was pregnant.
He says this resulted in massive bleeding, punching slapping, throttling and throwing her against walls, while highly pregnant.
Mkondo says the NPA has not taken her case seriously. "I was actually abused sexually, physically. I had pictures, I've got evidence, but every day when I came to court, the evidence was not there. The crucial pictures were missing all the time.
"With AfriForum, they communicate with me, they ask me how I feel. I think my mental health is actually at state now. I sleep like a baby. The way they treat me, they call me, they update me. It's what I was expecting from the court of law to treat me that way, but no, they did the opposite," she said.
In April this year, NDPP Shamila Batohi said gender based violence was "the most important women's human rights issue that government and society must address as a collective. The rape and killing of our women is in fact reflective of the society that is devoid of a sense of humanity."
Bateman says the NPA continues to fail female victims of crime.
The case was postponed to 1 August for trial, however the Private Prosecution Unit will make further representations to the NPA to ensure the accused is charged with rape.
