The 33-year-old was sentenced at the Springs Regional Court on April 14.
The incident occurred in July 2010 at the SAPS Marriage Quarters.
According to Lieut Nomsa Sekele, a 13-year-old girl was playing with her friends when she was called by Mangena who pretended that he wanted to send her to the shops.
“As the girl got into the apartment, the suspect locked the door, took out his firearm and raped her,” said Sekele.
“The girl was then taken to iThemba Rape and Trauma Support Centre by her mother for evaluations and it was confirmed that she was raped.”
A case of rape was then opened at the Benoni Police Station.
Sekele added that when the suspect heard about the case, he handed himself over to police.
The suspect was arrested but the matter was never placed on the court roll and he was released.
“Four years later, on October 14, 2014, Mangena was found guilty but he kept on changing his defence for appeal, pending his sentence, but finally it caught up with him and he was sentenced to life in prison,” said Sekele.
Mangena is currently serving his sentence at Modderbee Correctional Services.
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