A Gauteng father accused of sexually assaulting his four-year-old twin daughters has failed in his urgent bid to force police to finalize their investigation. The father, who represented himself, approached the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria seeking an order compelling the Minister of Police to finalize the investigation into the alleged sexual assault within seven days and provide him with written confirmation of its outcome.
The children, whose names have been withheld to protect them, were born in September 2022. According to the judgment, the father and their mother began a romantic relationship in April 2020. The relationship ended in February 2025, although they attempted to reconcile until July that year. The father left the shared home with the children in August 2025.
The dispute later escalated, with the mother approaching police and a criminal docket initially being opened against the father in connection with allegations that he had kidnapped his own children. He was arrested on the kidnapping allegation in August 2025 but was released without appearing in court after a prosecutor concluded that no crime had been committed.
The more serious dispute arose in July 2026, when the mother allegedly reported the father for sexually assaulting the children. The judgment records that the children were examined on July 2 and that J88 forms were completed. The father was subsequently told that he could not collect the children from school or take them on holiday and that he could only have contact with them through video calls at night.
The father denied the sexual assault allegations. Earlier, he had approached the High Court seeking restoration of the children's primary residence, an order preventing further criminal complaints against him, protection from arrest, and an order compelling the police to ensure that the children were assessed by a forensic social worker.
The court found that there was no evidence of a refusal by police to investigate, bad faith, or an unreasonable failure to perform a public duty. The judge said the ongoing investigation had a direct impact on both the father and the children, who no longer had normal access to him. However, the court rejected the father's demand that the investigation be completed within seven days.
The judge criticised the police for not providing greater clarity about the progress of the investigation and stressed that the police have a constitutional duty to investigate crime, but said courts cannot ordinarily dictate how or within what period a police investigation must be conducted. The mother's non-joinder also counted against the father, as she had a direct and substantial interest in the application.
Key points
- The father, accused of sexually assaulting his twin daughters, failed to force police to finalize their investigation within seven days.
- The court found no evidence of a refusal by police to investigate or bad faith in the ongoing probe.
- The investigation's duration has effectively suspended the father's parental rights, preventing normal contact with his children.
