Gqeberha soccer coach slapped with 5-year jail term for sexual assault

The Port Elizabeth Regional Court has sentenced a 28-year-old soccer coach to five years in prison for sexually assaulting four boys between 2017 and 2018, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement.

Sizwe ‘Lali’ Mphini was found guilty on four counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to five years for each count. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, meaning that he will serve five years direct imprisonment.

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The NPA said that there was no minimum sentence provision for sexual assault and therefore the court used its own discretion in sentencing.

“The youngest of his victims during the period he committed the crimes was eight years old while the oldest was 14 years old,” reads the statement.

“During 2016 Mphini saw young boys playing soccer in an open field in Gqeberha. He then asked them if they had a soccer coach and they said no.

“Mphini volunteered to be their coach and promised to buy them soccer jerseys. The children were excited and they agreed to his proposal; the team was named Mighty Eagles.

“However, the children testified in court that Mphini never bought them soccer jerseys. He instead fondled their private parts.”

It said that during practice time, he would call the boys one by one and would play with their private parts.

“Mphini would invite the boys to his house to eat food and watch cartoons. He would call them one by one to his bedroom and play with their private parts. He would instruct them not to disclose the sexual assault to anyone.”

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According to the NPA, the boys testified that their private parts would be painful and swollen.

“They said that at first they were too afraid to tell their parents. The court also heard that Mphini abused more boys, not just the four who came forward. It is alleged that the other boys were afraid to report the crimes which were allegedly committed against them.

“Rumours about Mphini’s wrongdoings started to spread and the lid blew open when one parent went looking for her boy and found him at Mphini’s house with other young boys. She took her 10-year-old son home and when she questioned the child he disclosed the sexual assaults and stated that Mphini did the same to other boys,” explained in the statement.