Thirty-five-year-old Gift Mahlangu was sentenced to two life sentences for repeatedly raping two minor girls aged seven and eight.
Mahlangu appeared before the Randburg magistrate’s court on Tuesday and received a further five-year sentence for kidnapping.
He was also handed a two-year sentence for contravening the Immigration Act and was deemed unsuitable to work with children.
His name has been entered into the national register of sex offenders.
Phindi Mjonondwana, spokesperson for National Prosecuting Authority in Gauteng, said the girls were playing on a soccer field in Diepsloot when they were accosted by the accused.
He took them to a nearby bushy area where he threatened them and claimed to be carrying a gun.
“Mahlangu smeared their faces with sand and proceeded to rape them. On their way home, the victims met community members and relayed their ordeal,” said Mjonondwana.
“The parents and the community members mobilised and assaulted the accused. That is when he fled to the nearest police station to open a case of assault against the community members. The residents then explained to the police what had happened.”
State prosecutor Given Mbedzi argued that the accused version that his ex-girlfriend framed him by inserting his semen on one of the minors should be rejected.
Mbedzi added that the girls’ testimony was truthful and without contradictions.
He pleaded with the court not to deviate from the minimum prescribed sentence of life imprisonment, as there were no justifiable reasons for the court not to do so.
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