EFF leader Julius Malema is facing yet another legal battle after the National Prosecuting Authority agreed to charge him with crimen injuria for falsely accusing a school principal of being a serial child rapist.
AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit successfully convinced the NPA to prosecute Malema following public statements he made in April 2025 at the party’s Land Reclamation Day in Johannesburg. During the event, Malema publicly claimed that Jaco Pieterse, former principal of Bergview College in Matatiele, raped a seven-year-old girl and suggested he may have committed similar offences in the past.
The accusations stem from allegations made by a child’s mother in October 2024. Both Pieterse and the school caretaker became targets of a social media campaign in November 2024 after the NPA declined to prosecute due to insufficient evidence. In May 2025, the NPA confirmed it would not prosecute anyone in connection with the alleged rape.
“There is no evidence of rape or sexual assault after the minor girl was interviewed and examined by medical practitioners and forensic social workers,” an NPA spokesperson said at the time.
Pieterse laid a criminal complaint at Sophiatown Police Station in June 2025 with support from AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit. When no decision to prosecute was forthcoming, the unit made representations to the NPA on 18 June.
Advocate Gerrie Nel, head of the unit, pointed to...
EFF leader Julius Malema is facing yet another legal battle after the National Prosecuting Authority agreed to charge him with crimen injuria for falsely accusing a school principal of being a ser...