A 35-year-old man from Tabase in Mthatha, Eastern Cape has been sentenced to 40 years and three months in jail for the rape of his girlfriend’s daughter.
Sakhiwo Mdondile was found guilty by the Mthatha regional court on Tuesday.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Mdondile raped the victim on numerous occasions in 2017. The rapes occurred during the mother’s absence in a one-roomed structure that the couple shared.
NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the child was 12 years old when she was sexually assaulted by Mdondile.
“The victim slept on the floor with her younger sibling while the couple slept on the bed. On the morning of the first incident, the mother left the boyfriend with the children when she went to fetch medication from the clinic,” said Tyali.
“Mdondile instructed the victim to come and sleep on the bed and proceeded to rape her while the younger child was fast asleep on the floor.
“Before the mother returned from the clinic, he raped the victim again after sending the younger child to go and buy salt at a nearby shop.”
The victim did not report the incident to her mother because Mdondile had threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the ordeal.
Later that year after the couple had broken up and the mother moved out with her children, Mdondile fetched the child from school and raped her that evening and again in the next morning.
A victim impact statement read to the court described how the victim was fearful of Mdondile, who had been physically abusive to her mother when they were still in a romantic relationship.
During trial, Mdondile pleaded not guilty and attempted to portray the mother as a negligent parent.
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