Investigation launched into alleged rape of six-year-old girl at KwaZulu-Natal school
The DA held a picket outside the Esikhaleni police station on Tuesday over what the party said was the slow response to the rape case of a six-year-old girl.
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KwaZulu-Natal police are investigating the alleged rape of a six-year-old girl in the toilets of a primary school in Esikhaleni, outside Empangeni last month.
SAPS spokesperson Captain Ntathu Ndlovu said that an investigation is underway.
“Empangeni Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit detectives are investigating a case of rape following an incident in which a six-year-old girl was allegedly raped at a school at Esikhaleni on 25 April 2025. Investigations into this matter are ongoing,” Ndlovu said.
The KZN Department of Education has also acknowledged the incident. Department spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said: “Yes, we are aware of the matter and it's being attended to.”
The incident comes after the public outrage around the alleged rape of a 7-year-old girl at a private school in Matatiele, Eastern Cape.
The National Prosecuting Authority has recently announced that its Eastern Cape division had declined to prosecute the case.
However the DA has criticised what it calls "institutional inaction" regarding the incident.
DA provincial education spokesperson Sakhile Mngadi alleged that while the incident reportedly took place on April 25, the police only visited the school on Monday.
Mngadi led a picket outside Esikhaleni SAPS on Tuesday, where a memorandum of demands was handed over, calling for urgent interventions. The picket was attended by civil society groups, local residents, and the victim’s mother, who marched alongside DA leaders, demanding justice.
“The mother’s presence today was a powerful reminder of the real human cost of government and police inaction. She should never have had to fight for something as basic as justice for her child,” said Mngadi.
In its memorandum, the DA called for a transparent criminal investigation, immediate psychosocial support for the child and her family, a review of the school’s safeguarding policies, and disciplinary action against anyone found culpable.
The DA has also submitted a parliamentary question to KZN Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka demanding answers on whether a departmental investigation is underway and what support has been provided to the learner and her family. It has also asked for the school’s history of safeguarding compliance and whether any previous disciplinary concerns were raised about staff or others linked to the school.
The DA cited SAPS crime statistics for 2023/24, which revealed that more than 16,000 cases of child rape were reported nationwide, an average of 44 children raped per day, many of them under 10 years old.
“This is not just about one child, it’s about a system that is failing all our children. Schools should be places of safety, not scenes of trauma,” said Mngadi, who also urged that the issue be treated as a national emergency.