‘The worst kind of rape’: Man convicted of raping four young boys’

A regional court magistrate described the rape of four young boys as the “worst kind of rape” saying the suffering would remain with the victims throughout their lives.

The families of the victims presented their impact statements to the Pietermaritzburg regional court yesterday.

S’fundo Collen Vilakazi (20) from Imbali Unit 14 was found guilty in June last year after he pleaded guilty to raping four boys aged four, five, six and eight years old.

All four boys were raped on the same day, one after the other, on May 14, 2021.

Court papers
According to court papers, Vilakazi claimed that on the day of the incident, his girlfriend had broken up with him and was refusing to take him back, which led to him feeling depressed.

He called the first boy to his room, asked him to undress and raped him. He then proceeded to call the other boys one by one and raped them.

Vilakazi said he was confronted by the boys’ parents a few days later, after which he was arrested.

Vilakazi said the five-year-old is his stepfather’s son, and the other three boys were the son’s friends who used to visit his stepfather’s house.

Psychological evaluation

He was taken for a psychological evaluation, where he claimed that the boys requested him to have sex with them, and that he had warned them not to disclose what had happened.

He further admitted that he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs when he raped the boys and suggested that his chronic medication could have made him ‘do things he wouldn’t normally do.’

The psychological report read, “His verbal reports are suggestive of pre-meditation, planning, and contemplation with regard to the alleged sexual offences.

He reportedly took measures to encourage the children to keep the events secret and admitted to suggesting that the boys go to a specific place and brought lubricant from his room.”

The regional court prosecutor, Yashania Manickum, told the court that the children underwent extensive counselling because of the incident and were still traumatised.

She added that other parents did not submit their victim impact statements due to the trauma.
Magistrate Estelle Goosen, described the case as “the worst kind of rape.” She disagreed with Vilakazi’s
defence, who said he was remorseful.

Vilakazi has made no attempt to offer an apology to these families even though he had ample opportunity after his conviction and even through the assistance of the psychologist. I can only conclude there was nothing at all in his heart wanting to reach out and apologise to the victims and their families.
Victim Impact statement
One of the boys who submitted his victim impact statement drew a picture of himself after the incident. He said he was sad that a man had abused him and that he was no longer allowed to visit his friends since the rape.

My parents were also sad when they found out about the incident. I don’t understand why he did this to me. He has not even apologised for what he has done. I wonder if he is feeling sad or remorseful for what
he has done. I wonder where he learnt this from because what he did was wrong.
The victim’s parent said she trusted Vilakazi and treated him like her son.

She said her son used to call him a ‘brother who prays’. She said after the incident, they felt they were bad parents who couldn’t take care of their children.

Goosen said the children will always be traumatised by what happened.

She said they were all young, which made them soft targets.