A 42-year-old man from Pretoria was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of rape in the Moretele Magistrate’s Court last week.

According to Temba police spokesperson Constable Rose Mbokane, the man followed his unsuspecting victim, who was walking home from Marokolong, in Hammanskraal, at about 18:30 on March 3, 2018.

The woman passed a passage leading her to a railway crossing.

“After crossing the railway and walking towards a sports ground, she spotted the man facing her holding a beer bottle.”

Mbokane said the man demanded money from the victim and threatened to kill her.

“The woman was told to cooperate—or die. He then hit the victim with the beer bottle and dragged her to an abandoned house, where he raped her,” she said.

After the woman was raped, she was released and, together with her family, reported the matter to the police.

Temba investigating officer Sergeant Rachel Moeketsi from the Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offence Unit managed to trace the rapist at the Kgosi Mampuru Prison on February 21, 2020, while he was on trial for another offence.

The man was finally charged with rape this year.

He was found guilty, sentenced to life imprisonment, and declared unfit to possess a firearm.

Constable Mbokane expressed her happiness about the sentencing.

“I’m happy that the law is taking its course and not letting perpetrators get away with crime. GBV has no place in the hands of the law, and justice has been served,” Mbokane remarked.

Station commander Brigadier Johannes Tau also welcomed the conviction.

“I appreciate the efforts and hard work done by the investigating officer. Justice has been served now.”