Sergeant Mavis Mbatha recently received an award for securing the conviction of a paedophile who raped two children in the Bergville area. The award was presented to her by Uthukela District Commissioner, Major General Thulani Gonya.

The two girls, aged 7 and 10, were raped in the Okhombe area of Bergville in October 2025.

According to police spokesperson Warrant Officer Basheer Khan, the girls were visiting the accused when he raped them.

Officers from Ematsheni SAPS wasted no time in arresting the suspect.

Sergeant Mbatha of the Ladysmith Family Violence, Child Protection & Sexual Offences Unit was tasked with the investigation. After interviewing the suspect at Bergville police station, he was charged for three counts of rape and one count of sexual grooming.

The case was finalised in the Ladysmith Regional Court on June 30, where the accused was sentenced to three terms of life imprisonment, one life term for each of the rapes. He received an additional five years for sexual grooming.

The name of the accused has been withheld to safeguard the identity of the victims. This is normally done when the accused is either family or extremely well known in the community.

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