Rape of our women and children is out of control, not only in Makhado (Louis Trichardt) and the province, but nationwide.

This statement was made by the State during the sentencing of a man who had raped his 12-year-old stepdaughter. The 46-year-old man from Waterval appeared in the Louis Trichardt Regional court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to a charge of rape.

During his court appearance it came to light that the man, who was a security guard, was caught red-handed raping his stepdaughter. The man had locked the girl’s mother in her room before he went to the girl’s room. When the mother woke up and found her door locked and her husband gone, she unlocked the door with a spare key and started looking for her husband. When she could not find him, she went to check on her sleeping daughter. Upon opening her daughter’s door, she found her husband raping her daughter.

During a medical examination, semen was collected from the girl, which was positively linked to the farther.  The incident took place in June of last year and the man was arrested in September after he had fled from his home.

According to the man’s plea explanation, he was drunk when he raped the girl. He also said that he was suffering from a kidney disease and had only completed Grade 10.
During his court appearance, the court conceded that liquor might have played a role but shot down claims about his poor health and education. “You didn’t plead guilty out of remorse, but rather because you were caught red-handed,” said regional magistrate Pat Cloete during the man’s sentencing.

The man was sentenced to 18 years’ direct imprisonment. He was also declared unfit to carry a firearm and his name had to be recorded in the national sex offenders register.