NPA’s response on Kemp brothers’ rape matter confirms they have received special treatment
20 November 2024
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has confirmed to AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit that convicted child rapists, Marinus and Morné Kemp, remain free men despite the Pretoria High Court cancelling their bail, because of an understanding with their defence counsel. The NPA further confirmed that a date for the brothers’ bail application has not been set, which raises further questions because prosecutors do not have the discretion to usurp the courts and disregard court orders.
In follow-up correspondence, the unit has asked the NPA to clarify whether such special treatment is limited to the case of the Kemp brothers, or whether there are many such cases where appellants who have been convicted of serious offences have not been arrested because of informal arrangements with the authorities.
“We are concerned that either these appellants received preferential treatment, or it has become the practice of your office, and there are more such instances, where unsuccessful appellants are granted similar concessions,” Adv. Gerrie Nel, head of the unit, wrote in his follow-up correspondence to the NPA.
In October 2022, the Pretoria Magistrates Court convicted the Kemp brothers for the 2018 rape of a 14-year-old girl. The court sentenced Morné to 25 years’ imprisonment and Marinus to a 20-year jail term. They immediately appealed their conviction and have been on bail since then. On 30 October the Pretoria High Court dismissed the appeal and revoked their bail. The court ordered the brothers to surrender themselves within seven days to the investigating officer or report to the Pretoria North police station to be arrested and start serving their sentence.
The unit represents the victim and her mother, who approached the unit after learning that the daughter’s convicted rapists had not been arrested, despite their unsuccessful appeal. The mother was unable to obtain clear answers from the authorities and remains concerned because the two men live in her neighbourhood.
The NPA says it would be “male fide or malicious” if the state arrested the Kemp brothers pending a decision by a court to grant them bail.
Adv. Nel says in the latest letter: “Our view is unwavering that it is neither male fides nor malicious for the state to act in accordance with the rule of law and to uphold the values of an organisation which is duty-bound to act without fear, favour or prejudice.
“Conversely, the state will act male fides when the interests of convicted criminals are elevated above those of society and their victims who are left with no explanation for why the assailants remain free. It begs the question: in whose interest is the state acting, if not society’s and the victims of crime?
“While your office indicates that it has been in contact with various role-players in this matter, notably absent is any effort to keep the victim and her family abreast of all these developments. As indicated in our previous correspondence, the complainant lives in fear and uncertainty because her attackers remain free. When was she going to be told about the extensive arrangements being made by your office?” asked Nel.
The case of the Kemp brothers follows the recent Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) study on gender-based violence. The research found, among the reasons, that gender-based violence (GBV) crimes were not reported due to a “lack of trust in authorities tasked to respond to GBV”. Regrettably, the case of the Kemp brothers provides the public with ample reason to distrust the authorities.
Issued by Barry Bateman, Communications Manager: Private Prosecution Unit, 20 November 2024
