The Belfast Regional Court slapped Sifiso Mokoena with a life imprisonment sentence for rape yesterday.
He raped and threatened a 40-year-old woman on July 26, 2020.
The victim was collecting firewood in the bushes in Emgwenya (Waterval Boven) when the heinous crime happened.
She opened a rape case, and a team of investigators from the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit were allocated to the case.
Mokoena was arrested two days after the incident.
He has attended court on several occasions since 2020 and even applied for bail, which was denied by the court.
The case was later transferred to the Belfast Regional Court, where he was convicted on April 8.
Mokoena was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the court ordered the immediate search and seizure of his competency certificates, licence, authorisation, and permits as he was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General (Dr) Zeph Mkhwanazi, applauded the efforts of the detectives to ensure that justice was served for the victim, “Such individuals must be removed from society to protect our communities, and also we are encouraged by the sentence handed down to these suspects. We hope that the sentence will serve as a deterrent to others who might consider emulating the actions of the accused person,” said Mkhwanazi.
