A Khayelitsha man who preyed on young girls has been convicted on 10 counts of rape and is expected to be sentenced in the Western Cape High Court on Thursday.
Aviwe Hoya’s conviction follows that of another convicted rapist, Odwa Nkololo, who earlier this month was found guilty of raping and killing four-year-old Iyapha Yamile. Nkololo is expected to be sentenced on Tuesday.
Hoya was on Monday convicted of 10 counts of rape, five kidnappings and three robbery charges. He allegedly accosted the girls on their way to and from school, and threatened them with a knife.
The State argued that Hoya robbed and raped them in an open field behind Esangweni High School in Khayelitsha between 2011 and 2012. One of the girls has since committed suicide as a result of the trauma, the State argued.
During judgment, Judge Kate Savage said Hoya raped the girls “with a vicious disregard”.
“He used violence to kidnap, rob and rape. He robbed the five young girls of their youth. The accused acted in a calculated manner of a serial conduct,” said Judge Savage, adding that a girl “broke down” when she had testified.
One of the victims has since resorted to drinking liquor, and has dropped out of school, said Judge Savage.
Hoya opted not to testify in mitigation of sentence.
During mitigation of sentence, prosecutor Maria Marshall said: “The trauma this particular incident had on the complainants was evident in court. The victims were all defenceless and young.
"He needs to be removed from society permanently. There is no remorse forthcoming from the accused.”
In an affidavit read out in court on Monday, one of the victims wrote that after she was raped, “I turned rebellious and dropped out of school”.
In relation to Nkololo’s case, prosecutor Thabo Ntela argued that the crimes on the two girls were “very severe and brutal”.
The State had argued that Nkololo kidnapped, raped and strangled Iyapha to death on April 30 last year, before stuffing her body in a refuse bag and dumping her in an open field.
Iyapha went missing while playing outside her aunt’s home.
“For the deceased it was a gross and cruel manner to die after enduring sexual violation and strangulation. The acts of rape, especially against the most vulnerable members of society that are very innocent and fragile, which the accused committed, were barbaric and inexcusable.
"The sentence of the court has to boost the confidence of the community in the criminal justice system of our country,” said Ntela.