While the sentencing of an Oudtshoorn man to life imprisonment and 30 years, for repeatedly raping and impregnating his minor daughter, has been commended anti-gender-based violence groups have raised concern about how many warning signs are routinely ignored in such cases.

The Oudtshoorn Regional Court has sentenced a 59-year-old man to an effective life sentence and 20 years’ direct imprisonment after he pleaded guilty.

The man has been convicted of sexual violation of his 13-year-old daughter, her repeated rapes over two years and incest. 

His victim is his own child, born after he raped her mother (the victim’s mother) when she was 16 years old.

Oudtshoorn Regional Court Prosecutor, Hyron Goulding, called the victim’s mother, who testified in aggravation of sentence that the accused raped her when she was 16 years old. 

The accused was the husband of the victim’s mother’s aunt. 

The accused was arrested for the rape, prosecuted, and convicted, but was acquitted on appeal of his case at the high court.

Goulding led evidence that the 13-year-old victim grew up staying with her mother and stepfather. She moved out and stayed with her father and his wife when she turned 13, visiting her mother on weekends. 

This move came about after the victim’s mother and the rapist were approached by their pastor and were requested to make peace. At this reconciliation discussion, the accused apologised to the victim’s mother for raping her. 

The accused’s wife invited the victim to stay with her, and her husband and the victim’s mother agreed to the arrangement as she thought the rapist had repented.

Over two years, he sexually assaulted her by indecently touching her and raping her multiple times. 

She got pregnant and returned home to stay with her mother. She had a few emotional outbursts at home and informed her aunt and mother about what the accused did to her. 

A case was registered against the accused, and a doctor confirmed that she was pregnant.

She told her mother that the accused impregnated her. The victim’s mother testified that they instructed the hospital to terminate the pregnancy.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said the State was ready to proceed with the trial on January 29, and the three charges were put to the accused. 

“In aggravation of sentence, Goulding argued that the accused pleaded guilty because he realised that the State had a very strong case against him and he had no other way out than to plead guilty. The accused is the victim’s biological father and was supposed to protect her, but he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He violated her,” he said.

Ntabazalila said the State’s case was that the accused planned the offence as he would wait for his wife to go to work and take advantage of the minor victim. 

“Worse is the fact that he raped and impregnated the victim, who is his own child. The accused has not shown true remorse. He has self-regret now that he has been caught out,” he said.

The court agreed with the State and sentenced the accused to 10 years direct imprisonment for sexual violation, life imprisonment for rape and 20 years direct imprisonment for incest. 

It ordered the 10 years direct imprisonment for sexual violation to run concurrently with the life imprisonment, but the 20 years direct imprisonment for incest to run separately from the life imprisonment. The accused is effectively sentenced to life imprisonment and 20 years’ imprisonment.

Action Society’s Juanita du Preez said this case is both horrifying and, tragically, not isolated, as they see far too many cases involving the prolonged sexual abuse of children where victims are silenced for years and perpetrators are protected.

“The sentence imposed in this matter is severe, and rightly so. Life imprisonment for repeated rape and an additional sentence for incest sends an important message that crimes of this nature rank among the most serious offences in our law,” Du Preez said. 

“Such sentences are commendable, but they are also reactive; they come only after catastrophic harm has already been done to a child. The deeper concern is how many warning signs are routinely ignored. In this case, a prior rape conviction was overturned on appeal, and the offender was later reintegrated into a family and community environment without adequate safeguards. That failure had devastating consequences,” she said.

Du Preez said while they acknowledge the NPA’s commitment and commend the prosecution team for their perseverance in this case, sentencing alone will not address the scourge of gender-based violence.

Ilitha Labantu’s Siyabulela Monakali also welcomed the life sentence, “as it affirms that crimes of incest and sexual violence against children are among the gravest violations of human rights and will be met with the full weight of the law”. 

“The judgment recognises both the severity of the harm inflicted and the long-term impact such abuse has on survivors,” he said. 

Monakali added that this case is particularly significant because it reflects a recurring pattern seen in many child sexual abuse cases, abuse perpetrated by someone known and trusted by the child, often within a family or extended family structure.

theolin.tembo@inl.co.za

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