KaMhlushwa crèche worker gets 25-year prison term for child rape
A court in Nkomazi handed down a 25-year sentence to a man convicted of raping a minor.
A 37-year-old man was sentenced to a 25 years of imprisonment for raping a four-year-old girl at a crèche in KaMhlushwa, Nkomazi Local Municipality.
The Boschfontein Regional Court passed down the judgement and sentencing recently.
The incident took place on September 1, 2023, after school and was witnessed by the victim’s sister. The rapist was employed as a general worker at the creché at the time.
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According to a statement by the Mpumalanga spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Monica Nyuswa, the convict pleaded not guilty and claimed he was not present at school during the incident.
Nyuswa said the regional prosecutor, Thembile Ngonyama, presented compelling evidence including the first report by the victim, the medical report and the eyewitness account from the victim’s sister. The court found the state’s witnesses credible and rejected his version of events.
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The sentence included his name being entered on the National Register for Sex Offenders, and declarations that he is unsuitable to work with children and unfit to possess a firearm.
Nyuswa said the NPA welcomed the sentencing and reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to delivering justice for victims of gender-based violence (GBV), especially to the most vulnerable children.
