Cape Town – A 35-year-old rapist was sentenced in the Mthatha Regional Court after he was found guilty of three counts of rape and common assault.
Evidence before the court revealed that in 2017, Sakhiwo Mdondile was in a relationship with the mother of the victim and they lived together in a one-room structure in Tabase Area in the district of Mthatha.
The victim, 12 at the time, and her younger sibling slept on the floor while their mother and her boyfriend slept on the bed.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Eastern Cape, Luxolo Tyali, said the first incident occurred when the children were left in the care of Mdondile when the children’s mother left the home to fetch medication from the local clinic.
He then instructed the older girl to sleep on the bed and raped her while the younger sibling was fast asleep on the floor.
The young girl was raped again later that day before her mother returned. This time, Mdondile had sent the younger sibling to a nearby shop to buy salt.
According to evidence before the court, the child did not report the incident to her mother because Mdondile threatened to kill her with a knife if she told anyone about the rape.
In October 2017, the couple broke up and the mother moved out with her children. The court heard that Mdondile then fetched the child from school and raped her that evening, as well as the following morning.
Meanwhile, the girl’s mother had looked for her daughter and her former boyfriend for two days but she could not find them.
On the third day, Mdondile and the child arrived at her mother's home.
When he was questioned about his actions, he assaulted the mother in the presence of the children and relatives. Community members had to intervene and Mdondile left the premises.
Days after the assault, the child revealed the rapes to her mother and Mdondile was arrested on October 22, 2017.
During his trial, he pleaded not guilty and attempted to portray the child’s mother as negligent before the court.
“Prosecutor Carol Fuzile led evidence that convinced the court otherwise and prayed for the imposition of a life imprisonment sentence because the rapist was not remorseful and had taken advantage of the victim who considered him as her father,” Tyali said.
“The prosecutor submitted a victim impact statement, compiled by Court Preparation Officer, Zanele Qunta, which described how the victim was fearful of Mdondile who had been physically abusive to her mother while they stayed together.”
The court sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment on each of the three counts of rape and three months’ imprisonment for common assault.
The court ordered the two 20-year sentences to run concurrently and the common assault sentence to run concurrently with the other 20-year sentence.