A Western Cape traditional healer and his relative will spend the rest of their lives in prison for sexual assault and rape of a minor.
The suspects, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the minor, were sentenced by the Mitchells Plain sexual offences court on Wednesday.
The court heard that on July 4 2021, the victim’s family invited the accused to their home after noticing a strange behaviour from the girl.
Eric Ntabazalila, regional spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), explained: “In his quest to ‘heal her’, he would wake her up at night while the rest of the family was asleep, take her to a separate room, lock the room and instruct her to undress.
“He would then insert his fingers into a guava juice and then into her private parts. Then, he would insert his penis into her private parts.
“He would also lick her private parts. The victim escaped and reported her ordeal to her mother in the other room.”
The accused was arrested and charged with two counts of rape and sexual assault.
On June 26 2023, the victim testified on camera with the assistance of the court intermediary, Abigail Long.
The prosecutor, Chantal Adams, said: “The quality of her evidence, notwithstanding her tender age, was of a high quality.
“She impressed the court with her confidence and demeanor. She did not shy away from answering questions no matter what their nature.
“As a result of court preparation support, the state was able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and the accused was convicted on all counts preferred against him.”
In aggravation of sentence, Adams emphasised the seriousness of the offences and requested the court not to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life in jail.
She further argued that the accused displayed no remorse, preyed on a vulnerable and innocent child, and that the accused needed to be stopped.
After considering the two years that the accused had already spent in custody, the court handed down a life imprisonment for two counts of rape and five years for sexual assault.
Sentences to run concurrently
The sexual assault sentence will run concurrently with the life sentence.
The court also ordered the names of the accused to be entered into the national register for sex offenders, and noted that they are not suitable to work with children.
In a separate incident, the Litchtenburg magistrate’s court in North West sentenced Orapeleng Matlape, 28, to life imprisonment for raping a 16-year-old girl.
The court also declared Matlape unfit to possess a firearm and ordered that his name be listed in the sexual offenders register.
Henry Mamothame, NPA spokesperson in North West, said: “His conviction emanates from an incident on 28 May 2017 at the Tlhabologong location near Coligny, wherein he and two of his accomplices accosted the complainant while she was walking home.”
They subsequently dragged the teenager inside a shack and took turns raping her, according to Mamothame.
“The following morning, she went home and reported the matter to her mother who reported to the police,” Mamothame said.
“The three were arrested in July 2017 but were later released, as the matter was provisionally withdrawn from the court roll for further investigations.”
The matter was re-enrolled in June 2021 and Matlape and an accomplice, Kamogelo Mokgothu, were rearrested. The third suspect is still on the run.
Matlape pleaded guilty to the charge and the state accepted his plea.
“However, Mokgothu pleaded not guilty and his case was postponed to December 13 2023 for the appointment of a presiding officer.”
