Nine years after she was attacked, Celeste Gouws has finally received justice following the imprisonment of the man who raped her. 

According to AfriForum, on September 2, 2017, Isaac Andile Memese was drinking with Gouws and her friend at her Somerset East guesthouse when she became heavily intoxicated. 

Earlier in the evening, she had called her friend to the house because she suspected Memese was making unwanted sexual advances. 

The friend put Gouws to bed and left the property with Memese, but he returned a short while later and sexually assaulted Gouws. 

Memese was subsequently arrested and charged with rape and housebreaking. 

Sentencing 

AfriForum says the NPA issued the nolle prosequi certificate [a formal document issued by the NPA declaring that the state declines to prosecute a case] in July 2020, allowing AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit to pursue the case. The trial began on July 13, 2021. 

It concluded in the KwaNojoli Regional Court last Thursday when Memese was sentenced to 20 years in prison. 

Gouws was represented by Adv Gerrie Nel from AfriForum’s prosecution unit. 

According to AfriForum, Magistrate Eric Mbiyo found that Memese’s conduct was calculated to take advantage of an intoxicated woman and vindicated Gouws, who AfriForum said had been branded a liar by the accused and the defence. 

Pre-planned 

AfriForum says the court found Gouws to be a credible witness and accepted her evidence as truthful about what happened that night. 

The organisation says Mbiyo stated that the victim’s intoxication did not give anyone a licence to abuse her and that the rape appeared to be pre-planned. 

During arguments for sentencing, Nel described rape as humiliating, degrading and brutal. 

“He broke into the house and the court said he then started closing curtains and frog-marched her to a room to rape her. It was well planned from early evening until late evening, until he got the gratification he wanted. That’s what he wanted – gratification. He raped a woman for his own gratification,” says Nel. 

Faith in justice system destroyed 

In a statement, Gouws said the long wait for justice had destroyed her faith in the criminal justice system. 

“There is absolutely no hope for victims of sexual violence in the current system. I was questioning why I reported the case, because no law-abiding woman should ever be expected to write off nine years of her life to stop a criminal. If I had not been fortunate enough to receive help from the AfriForum Private Prosecution Unit, my rapist would have got away with it. And as long as there is no accountability for criminals, there can be no change,” she said. 

‘The truth has come out’ 

Gouws said when she heard the guilty verdict and sentence, she could not believe it. 

“I thought, ‘finally, the truth has come out’. It was like a dark, heavy weight had been lifted off my chest, and good had conquered evil. I felt that the process, the police and the NPA had in effect continued the rape for nine years by making me feel like I deserved it,” she said. 

“Hearing that I was a good witness and that my version was fully accepted filled me with hope. Being vindicated and having the truth accepted after all this trauma was incredible,” she said. 

Vulnerable victims 

Barry Bateman, AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit’s spokesperson, says this is a significant victory not only for the unit, but also for vulnerable victims of rape who have been failed by the state. 

“The unit will continue to fight against selective prosecution and for women who have been denied justice. Our next step will be to seek a cost order against the NPA for nearly five years of trial. When organisations such as AfriForum step in to do the state’s job, the state must bear the costs of the private prosecutor,” says Bateman. 

Gouws made her statement about the sentencing via AfriForum, and declined to talk to Caxton Network News. 

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