The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the allegations emerging from the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands against a Hilton-based financial services professional, whose alleged sexual misconduct has now prompted 60 women to come forward. The allegations span decades and involve women and girls, including alleged victims who say they were targeted at their school when they were children.

According to reports, the youngest alleged victim was 11, while the oldest was 70. Several women reportedly attended the same private school in the Midlands and allege that the man obtained their contact details while they were in Grades 6, 7, and 8 and sent them unsolicited sexually explicit photographs and videos. The alleged conduct reportedly began through platforms such as Mxit and BlackBerry Messenger and later continued through Instagram and WhatsApp.

One 15-year-old allegedly became involved in a relationship with the man that lasted for more than a year, with messages reportedly showing what investigators described as grooming and possessive behaviour. Concerns were allegedly raised with a teacher and school management as far back as 2017, after which a police case was opened. That investigation reportedly stalled after the investigating officer died and the docket could not be located. The case is now being reconstructed, with statements from alleged victims being taken again.

This is precisely where the EFF believes South Africa must stop treating every case of sexual violence as an isolated incident involving one deviant individual. The questions must be asked about how an individual could target girls for years with complaints reaching adults responsible for protecting children, how a police case could subsequently disappear from the system, and how the conduct could continue without effective intervention.

These are questions about the capacity and willingness of the state and institutions to recognise danger, protect children, and act decisively before a predator accumulates more victims. The most disturbing aspect of the Midlands case is therefore not only the number of women who have now come forward, but the possibility that opportunities to intervene existed years ago and were not acted upon effectively. This has become the central issue in sexual assault and rape cases in this country: a distinct lack of political will reflective of ANC governance.

South Africa has a serious problem with repeat sexual offenders, and government knows this. SAPS recently announced the arrest of two suspected serial rapists in KwaZulu-Natal, with one allegedly linked to 16 rapes across Cato Manor, Plessislaer and Taylor’s Halt and another allegedly linked to 14 women across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

However, the EFF rejects the notion that South Africa’s crisis of sexual violence can be solved simply by arresting individual perpetrators after the damage has already been done. The state must confront the conditions that allow repeat offenders to operate. Where complaints are ignored, where children are not believed, where institutions prioritise their reputation, where police dockets are poorly managed, where forensic evidence is delayed, and where investigations are not connected across police stations, perpetrators are given opportunities to continue offending.

The government has spent years announcing strategies, councils, plans, and campaigns against gender-based violence, yet the lived reality of women and children remains one of profound insecurity. President Ramaphosa dragged his feet until late last week, to respond to the recent killings of women in Ekurhuleni. And when he did he came up with a new plan, without providing results from the previous declaration of a state of national disaster on GBVF. There is no accountability whatsoever, and no clear path forward for the safety of women and girls in this country.

The women who have come forward in the Midlands must not become another temporary headline. Their allegations must be properly recorded, independently investigated, and followed through to their conclusion. Those who may have failed to act when complaints were first raised must also be investigated, and there must be consequences for any institutions that ignored credible warnings.