Man gets life sentence for rape of minor in Ermelo
The accused denied the allegations against him.
The Ermelo Regional Court sentenced Nkosinathi Thwala (38) to life imprisonment on February 19, for the rape of a seven-year-old girl in Sun City in March 2019.
The victim was on her way home from school when the accused called her into his shack. He raped her and gave her a R10 note.
When the victim arrived home, her mother noticed that she was holding the note, and upon inquiring, she then told her mother that she was raped by the man who gave her the money.
She further told her mother that she could point out the man who raped her and the place where he lives.
The victim’s parents went to look for the accused and found him in his shack. They confronted him, and the police were called, while the minor was taken to a nearby medical centre for treatment.
In court, the accused pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations against him.
Prosecutor Chane Rothman presented evidence of the victim, the initial report, and that of a forensic doctor, which was consistent with the victim’s version.
The arresting officer also testified to what he observed when arresting the accused, and the court found the accused guilty as charged.
In aggravation of sentence, Rothman argued that the evidence of a scooter and the bed inside the accused’s shack was compelling because the victim described the shack before they saw it, along with the R10 the accused gave the victim.
A victim impact statement facilitated by the court preparation officer Faith Masango, where the victim drew a picture of a sad little girl crying, was presented.
She detailed that since the incident happened, she has been living in fear and afraid of the accused because he threatened to kill her should she report the ordeal.
The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment and declared unfit to work with children, and the court ordered his name to be entered into the register for sex offenders.
The acting director of public prosecutions in Mpumalanga, Sonja Ntuli, welcomed the sentence and applauded the prosecutor and the investigating officer for a job well done.
“We hope that this sentence will deter would-be offenders who commit similar crimes against society’s most vulnerable groups.”
