The Provincial Commissioner of North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, welcomed maximum sentences recently secured by the Mogwase and Wolmaransstad Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Units.
In the first incident, a 49-year-old male accused visited the family of an eight-year-old victim on Sunday, 5 February 2017 in Lethabong. He left and took the victim with him at about 11:30 and he raped her in dense bushes, close to a local Primary School.
The victim reported the incident to her mother who immediately contacted the police. The accused was arrested one day after the incident and appeared before the Rustenburg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 7 February 2017.
He was ultimately found guilty of rape and sentenced on Wednesday, 31 March 2021, to life imprisonment. The court ordered that the accused’s name be recorded in the National Register for Sexual offences. He was further declared unsuitable to work with children.
In an unrelated incident reported on Saturday, 4 November 2017, a 25-year-old victim went to bed with her eight-year-old daughter in Extension 17, Tswelelang Location, close to Wolmaransstad. The next morning, she woke up at about 03:00 when someone touched her. She looked at her daughter, but she was still asleep. She then saw a 19-year-old neighbour, standing inside her room. He undressed her and forcefully raped her.
Luckyboy Mogapi Thipe (19) was arrested on Tuesday, 7 November 2017 and appeared in the Wolmaransstad Magistrates’ Court for the first time on Wednesday, 8 November 2017. He was sentenced on Wednesday, 31 March 2021, to 10 years imprisonment for rape and a further four years imprisonment for housebreaking.
The Provincial Commissioner of North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, welcomed the sentences and thanked the Investigating Officers, Sergeant Letshabang Vincent Mzinyathi (Mogwase FCS), Sergeant Kgomotso Mopelwa (Wolmaransstad FCS) and other role players including prosecution for securing the sentences.
He further said that the sentences, which will ensure permanent removal of the perpetrators from society, will send a clear message that no stone will be left unturned in dealing with sexual and other serious crime offenders.
