Johannesburg - A KwaZulu-Natal school teacher has been handed three life sentences by the Empangeni Regional Court for the rape of an 11-year-old pupil, police said on Friday.
Colonel Jay Naicker said Nkosingiphile Hlekwayo, 50, raped the 11-year-old girl on three occasions in 2009. The court sentenced him on Wednesday.
“The victim reported the matter to her parents and a case was opened at the Empangeni police station,” he said.
“The Empangeni family, child protection and sexual offences unit took over the investigation that led to the arrest of the accused on the same day that the offence was reported.”
He said Hlekwayo's family allegedly approached the girl's family and promised to pay them or give them cattle if they withdrew the case.
“The victim's parents refused to do so and they… allegedly received death threats. The victim was taken to a place of safety until the case was finalised.”
Provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni welcomed the sentence and expressed her confidence in the judicial system. - Sapa