The Madadeni Regional Court has  convicted and sentenced Bongani Tsotetsi (25) to 18 years imprisonment for raping a seven-year-old boy. The accused was sentenced last after he had appeared several times in court.

In April 2013, a seven-year-old victim was walking along the road in Madadeni when he was approached by the accused. The accused took the victim by force to his shack in the area where he was raped. He further threatened the victim not to tell anyone about the incident and let him go home. A case of rape was opened at Madadeni police station and the docket was transferred to Newcastle Family Violence, Child Protection unit for further investigation. Through an intensive investigation, the accused was arrested and charged with rape. The accused appeared in court and was denied bail.

The Acting Provincial Commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal, Major General Bheki Langa, welcomed the sentence handed down to the accused. “I further thanked the victim for being brave and reported such abuse even when he was threatened to be killed. The sentence handed down to the accused will serve as a warning to other would-be rapists who think of committing such cases,” he said.