ELDERLY PERSONS SENTENCED TO DIRECT IMPRISONMENT FOR TRAFFICKING A CHILD
The Gqeberha High Court sentenced Bheki Nxasana (66), Mxosheni Sibiya (67) and Nomvo Nxasana (68), to serve direct imprisonment terms after convicting them on charges of Trafficking in Persons relating to the forced marriage a 13-year-old mildly mentally disabled girl. The court sentenced Bheki, to whom the victim was forcefully married, to 18 and 15 years on two counts of rape. The three were all sentenced to nine years imprisonment, of which four years were suspended for three years, and six years imprisonment, of which two years were suspended for three years, on a charge of Trafficking in Persons for concluding a forced marriage for purpose of exploitation.
The court ordered that the sentences be served concurrently, meaning, Bheki will serve an effective 18 years, while his accomplices in other counts will serve five years. The court further ordered that their names be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders and National Child Protection Register.
Evidence is that the victim, was orphaned and as a result lived with her uncle, Sibiya, in KwaDukuza in KwaZulu Natal. Her uncle gave her up to her Sunday school teacher who was friends with Nomvo, the sister of the would-be husband. Nomvo took her to her daughter who stayed in Mbizana in the Eastern Cape, where Bheki, who worked in Gqeberha, originates. In 2016, Bheki, with the assistance of Nomvo, initiated lobola negotiations with Sibiya and payments were made. The young girl was made to travel to Gqeberha by taxi.
When the victim got to the destination, Bheki took her to his house where he strangled and forcefully had sexual intercourse with her. He told her that she was now her husband and he had paid lobola for her, therefore, she had to abide by his wishes and commands. The teenager was made to dress in a newly married woman’s (makoti) traditional attire and given a new name for her new role. After a while, she was taken to Bheki’s homestead in Mbizana where she had to live and work as a makoti. When she befriended her agemates, Bheki scolded her and ordered that she be returned to his Greenbushes home in Gqeberha, where he raped her again.
The victim managed to escape from Bheki with the assistance of his 20-year-old daughter and older stepdaughter, who assisted her to report the matter to the police on 24 April 2017, followed by his arrest. During the trial, all the accused claimed that they were not aware of the girl’s age when they entered her into a customary marriage and were not aware that they were acting unlawfully. Advocate Zelda Swanepoel, now Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, argued that the trauma this little girl is scarred for life, she has lost her parents, freedom, dignity, self-worth, and childhood, and is in fact, destitute. The court highlighted the extent of the trauma she had suffered during his judgment on the sentence.
