A 30-year-old self-proclaimed prophet of Beit Bridge, who was being accused of raping and impregnating a local woman during a cleansing ceremony at Makakavhule village, was acquitted of the charges.

Thembelani Dube of Makakavhule village outside Beit Bridge had pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape when he appeared before a local regional magistrate, Mr Josepha Mabeza, on Friday. The charges were withdrawn, due to a lack of evidence.

In acquitting Dube, the court noted that the complainant and her mother had not given credible testimony in court. According to the evidence given by one of the state witnesses, the complainant was in love with Dube and the two were also in the process of getting married. It was testified that the complainant and her mother had later connived to get rid of Dube, after the former had found another man. She then consulted her mother before they connived and falsely accused Dube of rape.

Allegations were made that, on an unknown date during the month of January, the complainant visited Dube at his homestead in Makakavhule to seek help, so that her husband would return from South Africa. Dube then prophesised, claiming that the complainant had a bad "omen", which was the main cause behind her marital problems and that she needed to be cleansed.

He allegedly invited the woman to accompany him the following day to a nearby bushy area where he intended to conduct a cleansing ceremony. On arrival at the shrine, Dube ordered the woman to remove her clothes; he told her that it was part of the rituals and the victim complied. He then told the complainant to dig a hole and bury her clothes. While she was in the process of doing so, Dube grabbed the woman by her waist and pinned her to the ground before allegedly raping her.

Dube had allegedly raped the woman on three separate occasions, resulting in her falling pregnant. On realising that she was pregnant, the woman reported the matter to the police, leading to Dube’s arrest.