The Madadeni Regional Court has sentenced a 30-year-old man to life imprisonment after finding that he lured the 28-year-old mother of his child under false pretences before raping her with an accomplice in a cemetery, and leaving her to walk home for help.
Detailing the sequence of events, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said the incident unfolded in Osizweni on 9 August 2025.
At the time, the complainant was walking along a road when the accused, accompanied by an associate, drove past her.
Given their prior romantic relationship and shared parenthood, the woman had no immediate reason to suspect wrongdoing when the vehicle stopped. The accused informed her that he had bought items for their child and requested that she accompany him to collect them.
Consequently, and unaware of the danger, the woman entered the vehicle with her former partner and his companion.
However, instead of proceeding to collect the alleged goods, the men diverted to a cemetery. It was there that both individuals raped her. In the aftermath of the attack, Ramkisson-Kara explained that the woman managed to walk home, where she promptly disclosed the incident to her family.
“The matter was reported to the police, and she was taken to the Madadeni Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC), where she received medico-legal and psychosocial support. Following her identification of the perpetrator, the accused was arrested,” said Ramkisson-Kara.
During the trial proceedings, Prosecutor Sicelo Hlela led the evidence of the complainant, supported by testimony from a family member to whom she had first reported the rape. Moreover, the State relied on DNA evidence, alongside a J88 medical report, to corroborate the account and strengthen its case.
In aggravation of sentence, Ramkisson-Kara outlined the profound and lasting impact the crime had on the victim’s life.
“She told the court that before the incident she had been an outgoing person with a vibrant personality, but that the ordeal had left her traumatised and changed her fundamentally,” stated Ramkisson-Kara.
Following the conclusion of the trial, the Madadeni Regional Court imposed a sentence of life imprisonment and ordered that the accused’s name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
Meanwhile, although the co-conspirator remains at large, Ramkisson-Kara reiterated the NPA’s ongoing commitment to addressing such offences by stating;
“The NPA remains steadfast in its commitment to combating sexual offences and gender-based violence. This commitment is reinforced by the continued expansion of the Thuthuzela Care Centre network, which has grown from 55 centres in 2020/2021 to 66 centres currently operating across the country. These centres provide integrated medical, legal, and psychosocial services to survivors of sexual violence, thereby improving support for victims and strengthening the prosecution of these offences.”
Against this backdrop, the conviction delivers unambiguous accountability for an act of calculated betrayal in which a shared child and a former intimate relationship were weaponised to isolate and violate the victim.
Nevertheless, the continued freedom of the second perpetrator leaves a critical gap in that accountability.
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