'Uncle' who raped 12-year-old niece gets 22 years behind bars while gran who hid the rape set to face the law

A man who raped his girlfriend’s 12-year-old niece was on Thursday sentenced to 22 years of direct imprisonment for two counts of rape by the Atteridgeville magistrate’s court outside Pretoria. 

The court ordered that the 29-year-old man’s name be added to the national register for sexual offenders and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said at the time of the incident the child was staying with her grandmother in Saulsville in Tshwane in the main house while the man, who was then in a relationship with the victim’s aunt, stayed in the back rooms in the same yard. 

“In June 2019, in the evening, when the child was closing the gate at the request of the grandmother, the man saw her and dragged her to the outside toilet and raped her. In the morning the child reported the matter to the grandmother, who told her to go to the clinic and school,” said Mahanjana. 

“When the minor got to school she told her friend what had happened. The friend, together with the victim went back to the grandmother after school and told her what the victim had shared with her but the grandmother chased the friend away. Two weeks later, when the victim was washing dishes in the kitchen, the man came in and sexually assaulted the child again,” she said.

Mahanjana said when the child was reunited with her mother in December 2019 during the school holidays, her mother noticed a change in her behaviour. Upon inquiring, the child informed the mother what had happened. 

“The mother reported the matter to the police. The man was arrested on January 8 2020 and has been in custody since after the NPA successfully opposed bail,” she said.

He pleaded not guilty in court to the charges. 

Mahanjana said prosecutor Paulina Mochaka asked the court to recall what the victim had gone through when imposing sentence.

“Mr X was an uncle to the child but failed to protect her, instead, he saw her as a suitable candidate to satisfy himself sexually,” Mochaka said.

Magistrate Allan Cowan agreed that the offence was gruesome, despicable and disgusting.

“Mr X preyed on the child and is still refusing to take responsibility for what he did and the grandmother also did not protect the child. She did nothing and she too deserves to be in jail,” said Cowan.

The 62-year-old grandmother was summoned to appear on March 19 2021 to face a charge of failure to report the rape of a minor.

She will appear on Wednesday at the Atteridgeville district court for representation. 

The grandmother and “uncle” cannot be named to protect the minor.

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