Ntokozo Zikhala has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and kidnapping of a nine-year-old girl.
Zikhali, who was previously accused of raping and mutilating four-year-old Bokgabo Poo’s body, was sentenced for a separate case by the Benoni magistrate’s court on Thursday.
This after he pleaded guilty to the rape of a nine-year-old girl in 2021.
His sentencing comes after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) declared Zikhali not guilty of the murder of Bokgabo, citing insufficient evidence.
According to the NPA, a DNA test showed that the bloodstains found on Zikhali’s jeans, which were found dumped in a bin at his home, belonged to someone else.
Even though it was reported that Zikhali confessed to committing the crime to the police, he alleged he had been assaulted and forced into a confession.
The four-year-old’s lifeless body was found in October 2022 after she went missing while playing at a park in Wattville, Benoni.
After an extensive search, Bokgabo’s dismembered body was found in different areas in the township.
Some of the young girl’s body parts were missing when the gruesome discovery was made.
An emotionally drained father of the four-year-old, Irvin Ndlovu, said he is disappointed in the justice system.
However, he is grateful that the community continues to support the family. If Zikhali is not guilty, asked Ndlovu, then where is the person who “brutally killed my daughter”?
“What are the police doing? Where is Police Minister Bheki Cele? Where are the real killers? As a patriot, I am disappointed in this country,” he said.
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