Mduduzi Nxumalo (35), who used his relationship as a woman’s prayer partner to gain access to her 11-year-old daughter in KwaDukuza on KZN’s north coast, will spend 40 years in prison.

Finalised in the KwaDukuza Regional Court last week, Nxumalo’s case related to three separate incidences of sexual assault, between February 27 and March 14, 2020, which culminated in rape.

Through evidence led by state prosecutor Nokwanda Mthembu, the court heard of the horrifying circumstances surrounding the abuse.

Nxumalo was a prayer partner of the girl’s mother and used the relationship to gain access to the family home in KwaDukuza.

In the first case, on February 27, 2020, Nxumalo slept over at the home before assaulting the girl as she was getting ready for school. The girl’s mother had briefly left to fetch water from the community tap.

Less than a week later, on March 3, Nxumalo again visited the home and assaulted the girl.

The court heard that he threatened her not to tell anyone about what had happened.

On March 14, Nxumalo was at the house when the child arrived home. When she went to play in a separate home under construction on the same property, he joined her. After fetching a mat from the main house, he raped her.

He was discovered by the victim’s mother and was later arrested.