A MANDLANKALA pastor preached a different sermon when he was convicted of rape at eSikhawini Regional Court on Tuesday.
Bongani Ndwandwe (52) faced three counts of rape for sexually assaulting two close relatives in 2008.
Community members packed the court room and anxiously waited for the outcome of the lengthy trial.
It was revealed in evidence that Ndwandwe firstly raped the older victim when she was 19.
The incident happened at their Madlankala home in May and June of 2008.
She said her father came home drunk, forced her in his room and raped her.
She broke down in tears as she recalled how he strangled her when she cried.
‘After the incident I was ashamed to tell anyone,’ she said.
The victim said the second incident happened in a vacant room after they had an argument about her boyfriend.
The pastor was also accused of raping his then 15-year-old pregnant relative in October 2008.
‘He asked what will I do to comfort him because I fell pregnant, and then raped me,’ she said.
The court concluded that Ndwandwe abused the children after their mother died and had to live with him and his girlfriend.
The two escaped his home and reported the matter to an uncle and community member Ernest Mngadi.
Ndwandwe was than arrested and charged with three counts of rape.
His father-in-law, an ‘Archbishop’, testified on his behalf in mitigation.
He pleaded with the magistrate to give him a lighter sentence, but Magistrate S Ngesi was not convinced.
Ndwandwe was found guilty on two counts, and acquitted on the charge of raping the younger female after the State failed to prove the count beyond a reasonable doubt.
He was sentenced to 10 years on each count, but five years of the second count will run concurrently with the first ten years.
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