Man charged with rape of two minors in Pretoria hotel applies for plea bargain

The man accused of raping two minor girls, aged 11 and 13, at Pretoria Hotel was set to apply for a plea bargain.

The 45-year-old man appeared in the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Monday morning.

His lawyer told the court that the accused had requested an application of plea bargain, which is a negotiation process between the accused and the prosecutor in which they agree that the accused would plead guilty to the charge brought against him in exchange for a compromise or leniency in his prosecution.

In court, the National Prosecuting Authority requested to mull over the application and to consult with the families before giving a response. The matter was postponed to October 25.

NPA regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the accused’s attorney indicated that he wanted to approach a senior prosecutor to propose a possible plea bargain.

“The senior prosecutor will apply her mind and a decision will be made whether to proceed with the plea bargaining process or not depending on the proposal,” she said.

The two families of the two girls speaking to the Rekord outside court said they rejected the request and wanted to see the case proceed through trial.

“We believe the case of the prosecutor against him is strong and now he wants to get leniency but we do not want him to be granted that. The crimes he committed to the children are gruesome and he must face the law for that – he must rot in jail,” said a mother of one of the two minors.

The details as to what the accused was looking for in his plea bargain were not discussed in detail in court.

The prosecutor handling the case told the Rekord that although the NPA still needed to go through the application process, a plea bargain in cases involving minors was rare. He said in most cases when the accused applied for a plea bargain they intended to plead guilty to the crimes and mainly seek a lenient sentence.

The man was arrested last year November and remains behind bars, facing two charges of rape and kidnapping of minors.

He was accused of kidnapping the girls from Lotus Gardens near Atteridgeville before taking them to a liquor store then went to book a room at the Pretoria Hotel and allegedly raped both girls.

ALSO READ: Case against man who raped two minors in Pretoria hotel postponed

At the time of his arrest, he was out on parole after he was convicted of rape in 2012.

In his first appearance in court in November last year, the accused had indicated to the court that he intended to plead guilty to the charges levelled against him.

In his second appearance on December 7, he abandoned bail, however, he then again applied for bail in January. The bail hearing was postponed due to an outstanding DNA report.

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