Child rapist sentenced to life
The victim told her teacher that Rooi had been calling her back to his house after previously raping her.
The Groblersdal Regional Court has sentenced Sipho Rooi (40) to life imprisonment for rape and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
Limpopo Provincial Police spokesperson Malesela Ledwaba said that on May 8, a 10-year-old girl from Bloempoort Village in the Dennilton policing area was on her way to a local tuck shop when Rooi asked her to follow him to his house.
Ledwaba said when they got to the house, Rooi tempted her inside with a chocolate and yoghurt, then raped her.
The mother of the child was alerted after a school teacher reported that the girl had not been attending her lessons.
“During a conversation with the teacher, the girl revealed that Rooi had been stopping her on the road and calling her to his house, and that she was afraid to go because he had previously raped her,” Ledwaba said.
A case of rape was opened, and Rooi was traced and arrested by the Groblersdal Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences Unit at his home in Bloempoort on April 24, 2025.
Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has welcomed the life sentence.
Hadebe expressed hope that the strong sentence would send a firm warning to perpetrators of gender-based violence that such crimes would not be tolerated, and offenders would face the full might of the law.
