A 28-year-old man from Akasia, Pretoria, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his girlfriend’s 12-year-old sister.
The man was sentenced to life behind bars at the Pretoria North Magistrates’ Court.
He cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim.
The little girl was raped in July 2021 when she had visited her sister, who resides in Akasia, where she was staying with her boyfriend.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Gauteng regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the boyfriend, the victim and the girlfriend had been to the clinic in Soshanguve when the rape ordeal happened.
“When they got to the clinic the boyfriend and the victim were not allowed inside because of Covid-19 restrictions. While waiting outside, the man asked the young girl to walk with him to a nearby veld where he undressed, raped and threatened her not to tell anyone,” said Mahanjana.
“When the sister was done at the clinic, they walked back to her house. When they arrived, the young girl then took her stuff and went back home, in the same area.”
When the 12-year-old girl arrived home, she told her mother what had happened.
The mother took her to a police station where they reported the matter.
“After investigations by the police, the man was arrested on November 3, 2021, and has been in custody since. In court, he pleaded not guilty to the charges. Instead, he told the court that the sexual intercourse was consensual,” said Mahanjana.
State prosecutor advocate Thamsanqa Given Twala was able to dispel that evidence, and proved that the man indeed raped the girl.
Twala told the court that rape was a prevalent crime in South Africa, and the rape of minor children was “a pandemic” in the country.
The prosecutor highlighted that the brother-in-law was trusted by the girl, but instead he broke that trust.
The prosecutor also read into the court record the victim impact statement, where the mother of the victim stated that the school marks of the victim had dropped after the horrific incident.
Therefore, Twala asked the court not to deviate from imposing the applicable minimum sentence.
“When handing down the sentence, Magistrate Wessel said the future of our country lies in the hands of our children and a society that does not care for the children is a dead society as such, it was up to the courts to protect the rights of children,” said Mahanjana.
“Therefore, the magistrate agreed with the State and said he did not find any substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed sentence. In his view the only suitable sentence under the circumstances was life imprisonment.”
Meanwhile, Director of Public Prosecutions in Gauteng, Sibongile Mzinyathi has welcomes the sentence assured community members that the NPA takes offences committed against children “seriously”.
Mzinyathi applauded the work of the investigating officer, Constable Tsholofelo Chiloane which enabled the NPA to secure the conviction and the sentence.
In January, in an unrelated story, IOL reported that a 42-year-old Bethal man had allegedly raped his 13-year-old biological daughter, and impregnated her.
It is also alleged that the 42-year-old man also offered the teenage girl money to buy her silence.
IOL