An 18-year-old woman has been arrested for perjury and defeating the ends of justice after falsely reporting a rape and kidnapping case at the Verulam police station on 2 May 2025.
According to police, the woman claimed she was at a party with friends in Waterloo when they booked an e-hailing vehicle to take them home. Instead, she alleged, the driver took them to Durban, where she was forced to hand over a packet with unknown contents to another vehicle. She further stated that the occupants of the second vehicle took her to a club in Claremont, where she was assaulted, drugged, and raped by multiple men.
Police immediately opened cases of rape and kidnapping and began searching for the suspects. However, investigations later revealed that the woman had fabricated the entire story. She eventually confessed to lying, admitting that she did so out of fear of her mother and to avoid embarrassment in her community.
The woman was arrested and charged. She appeared in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Monday and was released on bail.
Strong Warning Against False Reporting
KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi issued a stern warning against individuals who file false police reports, emphasizing that such actions waste resources and could lead to wrongful arrests.
“As police, we are doing everything we can to end the scourge of gender-based violence and all acts of criminality directed at women and children. We cannot afford to have women reporting imaginary cases for their own benefit. Many men could have been arrested and detained out of lies, and such actions could result in civil claims against the police. Reporting fake cases is a waste of police resources, and anyone who does so will be prosecuted accordingly,” said Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi.
Authorities have reiterated their commitment to combating gender-based violence while urging the public to report crimes truthfully to avoid diverting critical resources from genuine cases.
