The case has been postponed to March.
The 28-year-old Limpopo man accused of impregnating a 13-year-old is now left to face statutory rape charges only in Seshego township, Polokwane.
The sexual grooming charge against Ditebogo Frans Gololo has been withdrawn due to insufficient evidence.
“The state has withdrawn the charge of sexual grooming as there’s not enough evidence that can support the charge,” said Limpopo National Prosecution Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi.
Malabi-Dzhangi added that at the moment the “accused abandoned his bail” application.
Gololo appeared at the Seshego Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where he abandoned his bail application and remains in custody.
According to Malabi-Dzhangi, the case was postponed to 3 March 2025 for further investigations.
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Statutory rape arrest following Christmas delivery
The arrest came just one day after the victim gave birth to a baby boy on Christmas Day 2024.
The Seshego Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit apprehended Gololo on December 26, 2024.
Under South African law, the incident is classified as statutory rape, as minors under 16 are legally prohibited from consenting to sexual activity.
The South African Criminal Justice System maintains that while consensual sexual activity between 12- and 15-year-olds is not considered a sexual offence, nor are consensual acts between 16-year-olds and those aged 14 to 18, any sexual activity with a minor under 16 by an adult constitutes statutory rape.
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Eight-month history of abuse
The relationship between Gololo and the victim reportedly began at a shopping complex in Seshego in January 2024.
“The two began communicating and allegedly became intimate in May 2024,” Malabi-Dzhangi explained.
The abuse only came to light when the teenager confided in her aunt after experiencing medical complications.
Medical tests in November 2024 confirmed that she was eight months pregnant, leading to police involvement and Gololo’s subsequent arrest.
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