The third witness testifying against the alleged Daveyton/Thembisa serial rapist was brought to tears following her testimony on September 11.
Insistent on standing to deliver her testimony, the complainant, who is now 17, identified the accused, Sipho Lucas Phiri, as the man who raped her multiple times on the afternoon of November 28, 2022.
She was 15 at the time.
Speaking in isiZulu, the Putfontein resident said she was on her way home from school in Daveyton after handing in her textbooks at the end of the school year.
“I was waiting to cross the road when he called me from his car,” she said, mustering the courage to answer State Prosecutor Esther Kabini.
“He kept calling. When I finally looked over at him I saw he was pointing two firearms at me. He told me to get into the car. I was scared he would shoot me.”
She said she continuously asked Phiri not to rape her.
The matter was reported to the Putfontein Police Station. The victim assisted the police to compile an identity kit of the suspect.
While explaining how she described her assailant to the SAPS ID kit artist, Phiri laughed when the youth said the suspect had big ears.
She identified the father of three during an ID parade at the Benoni Police Station following his arrest in Mayfield on January 22.
Cross-examination
Leading her cross-examination, Advocate Marianne Mampuru stated that her client indicated that he did offer the complainant a lift.
“I put it to you, you were upset that you had neglected to hand in one of your textbooks and that you were concerned about having to pay R200,” said Mampuru.
“You told the accused that you were 17 years old at the time upon which he offered to be your sugar daddy.
“He told you that he was a manager at Transnet and owned apartments in Boksburg. He said he could give you money, clothes and everything a high school girl wants. You showed interest in the proposition and the sex was consensual.”
Her face awash with indignity, the complainant stared at Phiri.
“Those are utter lies,” she said.
Following the adjournment of the Gauteng Division High Court sitting at the Benoni Magistrate’s Court, the complainant slumped onto the arms of the court preparation officer’s arms and wept.
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