Durban - A Swazi father was given two life sentences in Durban on Friday in a case reminiscent of that of Josef Fritzl in Austria nine years ago.
In the local case the man was flagged by Interpol last year when the mother of three little girls raised the alarm after they disappeared from their home in Mbabane.
The father, who cannot be named to protect the identities of the children, brought his daughters to South Africa. He kept them in a run-down house in Jozini for 18 months, repeatedly raping the 11-year-old, his step-daughter, until she fell
pregnant.
The children are now living in a place of safety in KwaZulu-Natal in the care of social services. Work is being done to help them with their education. Their mother is still in Swaziland but they are to be reunited with her next week.
The girls were 11, 9 and 7 when they were brought from Mbabane by the 41-year-old man.
The sentence has been lauded as a triumph for KwaZulu-Natal prosecutors as it is the first time life imprisonment has been handed down for human trafficking.
Magistrate Pearl Andrews said the moment the girls stepped on to South African soil in 2015 “they became our own children” and were entitled to the same rights.
In the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday the father was inattentive when the sentence was read out, looking around and fidgeting as if he did not understand what was being said.
“Victims of trafficking will be jealously protected no matter their country of origin; such offences will not be tolerated in South Africa,” Andrews said.
The man kept the step-daughter under his control with threats of violence and death if she tried to escape.
National Prosecuting Authority spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said he had made her take on the role of a mother figure to the younger children and perform household chores. He raped her continuously in front of her sisters.
“The girl was not allowed to speak to others. She later discovered that she was pregnant and told the accused,” said Ramkisson-Kara.
After a manhunt Hawks investigating officer Mandla Mkhwanazi traced and arrested the man in a forest in Obonjeni where he was hiding. He was charged with human trafficking, rape and violating the immigration act.
On Friday he was sentenced to life imprisonment for human trafficking and rape and to 12 months for being in South Africa illegally.
In aggravation of sentence, senior state advocate Val Dafel handed in a victim impact statement that detailed the horror the accused had put the eldest girl through.
“Why did he bring the children to South Africa and why did he continue to stay in the republic without the necessary permit?” asked Andrews. “Had the complainant not fallen pregnant the accused might have continued abusing her because he showed annoyance that the complainant had fallen pregnant.”
She emphasised that traffickers and rapists had no place in society and the court had to protect the public from them.
“What he did has far-reaching consequences; he destroyed the victim’s trust, he destroyed her childhood. At her age she was forced to be a mother of a child she cannot embrace because she is a constant reminder of what her stepfather did to her,” said Andrews.
She said the child, who is now 12, testified that she came to South Africa thinking she would have a better life and future. Instead her life turned into a horror.
Director of public prosecutions in KZN Moipone Noko said the sentence was welcome.
“I hope it will send out the necessary deterrent message to would-be offenders,” she said.
The mother is expected to be reunited with her daughters next week for the first time since they were taken.
The accused is also believed to be wanted in Swaziland as a key witness to a corruption case involving a high-ranking education official.
In the Fritzl case he held his daughter Elizabeth prisoner in the basement of the family home for 24 years, during which time she gave birth to 7 children. He started abusing her when she was 11.