Emotions ran high at the Pietermaritzburg High Court yesterday when a 27-year-old man detailed how he raped and killed his six-year-old niece in Mtwalume south of Durban.

Nkanyiso Radebe (27) from the Sibanini area, Hibberdene, on the South Coast appeared in court as he faced two charges for the rape and murder of Vuyisile Emihle Nyawose.

He admitted to raping his niece twice before killing her in the Nomakhanzane area of Mtwalume, on February 12.

Details of the incident

When he was detailing how the incidents took place, people in the court gallery started crying and had to be ushered out of court.

They continued to cry loudly outside and could be heard from inside the court.

Admitting to the crimes, Radebe said Emihle was his niece and lived near his home with her family.

He said he had consumed alcohol before going to Emihle’s home where she was with her grandmother.

He said Emihle’s grandmother had asked him to dig a pit toilet for her.

“I worked at the deceased’s home and the pick I was using broke. Her grandmother said she would ask her neighbour to lend her their pick. I asked her [grandmother] to please give me money to buy cigarettes while she spoke to her neighbour, and she gave me R10. I went to the shop to buy cigarettes and matches and the deceased followed me to buy airtime and two packets of chips for her mother.”

Radebe said after they were finished purchasing the goods from the tuck shop, he told Emihle to come with him to use another route back to her house.

This route went alongside the river and some bushes.

He then raped her twice. He said the child threatened to tell her grandmother.

“I got scared that she would report me and decided to kill her. I left her and went back to her grandmother’s house. Her grandmother asked if I saw her and I said I left her on the way back from the shop and did not know where she was.”

He said the community came to the grandmother’s house and he was taken to the police station where he immediately confessed and pointed out Emihle’s body.

He added that even though he’d admitted that he had consumed alcohol, he was able to differentiate right from wrong.

The matter was postponed to tomorrow for sentencing.