MBOMBELA – A 25-year-old man was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl who was walking home with friends from a night vigil at church.
Magistrate Mr Willie Wilkens further ordered in the Nelspruit Regional Court that Michael Moyane of Newskom Trust be registered in the sexual offenders registry of South Africa and that if he was employed, he had to inform his employers of the crime he had committed. If he failed to do so, he would be compelled to pay a fine of R140 000 or serve seven years in prison. Moyane was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
“Women and girls have a right to peacefully walk in the streets and entertain themselves without fearing people like you. You violated her rights by not only sexually assaulting her but also sodomising her,” said Wilkens when passing sentence. “This was a very barbaric attack,” he added.
On February 10, 2013, the victim and her two friends left the church at about 01:00 and decided to buy chips at the Love Corner Tavern. However, they decided not to enter the premises as they heard people singing in the distance.
Moyane and two of his friends approached the girls and started harassing them by proposing love to them. He grabbed the victim by her hand, assaulted her and dragged her into the bush.
When his friends tried to stop him, he threatened to stab them and told them he wanted to teach the girls to not come to taverns dressed in church regalia.
The court heard that the witnesses waited for Moyane and the victim to return. Moyane then forced the victim to kiss him but she refused. She told her friends what happened and informed other church members who reported the incident to the police. Moyane pleaded not guilty, but told the court that the victim was his girlfriend.
During the mitigation of a lesser sentence, Moyane’s defence lawyer argued that the incident occurred near a tavern and the environment was dangerous for children. “Alcohol might have played a certain role in this crime,” he said.
On the other hand, the state prosecutor, Ms Sindi Sihlongonyane urged the court to pose a harsher sentence considering the fact that the victim had sustained serious injuries to her private parts.
“It’s the first time I see a J88 show a victim who sustained such injuries and the accused did not show any remorse for his conduct,” she said.
