MAN HANDED SECOND LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR RAPE OF A SECOND MINOR CHILD RELATIVE
Cape Town Regional Court has sentenced a 43-year-old Du Noon resident, a man serving life, to another life imprisonment after convicting him for the rape of a second minor child relative. On 25 October 2023, the same court sentenced the then 42-year-old man to life imprisonment after his conviction for rape of a minor child relative and attempted murder after State successfully argued that argued he transmitted HIV, a life-threatening virus, whilst knowing that he was HIV positive. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape, and 10 years direct imprisonment for the attempted murder.
The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently and ordered his name to be entered into the National Register of Sex Offenders, which prohibited him from working with vulnerable groups and that he may not apply to adopt a child or be a foster parent. If he wanted to, he must disclose the sentence against him. Failure to declare is a criminal offence punishable with a direct prison sentence or a fine. He must inform future employers of the sentence and the orders handed down by the court which also declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
In the present case, the court found the aggravating factors far outweighed the mitigating factors and that no compelling or substantial circumstances justify a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence. The court ordered the sentence it handed down in this case to run concurrently with the sentence it imposed on 25 October 2023. It again ordered his name to be entered into the National Register of Sex Offenders, declared him unsuitable to work with children and further ordered his name be included in the National Child Protection Register. The court also declared him unfit to victimisation to possess a firearm and made an order of search and seizure.
Like in the previous case, the State does not name the victim as she was the accused’s brother’s stepdaughter and is taking this step to avoid secondary victimsation. Sexual offences prosecutor, Ruwayda Badrudeen, told the court that the accused was arrested for this rape case in May 2022, while he was on bail for the rape of a minor child for which he was sentenced on 25 October 2025.
She told the court that the accused’s brother married the victim’s mother and regarded her as his daughter. The victim saw the accused as a step-uncle after he moved into his brother’s house after the brother was bedridden following injuries he sustained. Badrudeen argued that the accused took advantage of the victim’s vulnerability as a child and abused the position of trust he held as a step-uncle. His actions led to his brother separating from his wife. The victim became aggressive towards her siblings and her academic performance declined. The victim is struggling to trust men and struggles to sleep. She is receiving trauma counselling to mitigate what she went through.
The accused’s previous victim was 7 years old who regarded him as an uncle. Medical examination revealed she had sexually transmitted diseases (STD), with HIV tests coming back negative. She did not reveal what had happened and the doctor requested that she be brought back a few weeks later, for further tests. The second HIV test came back positive. After his arrest, the accused claimed he was gay and therefore could not have raped the child. He subsequently indicated that if the State could prove that the HIV strain which the child contracted was the same as he had, he would plead guilty. Badrudeen took up the challenge after consulting a forensic virologist, at Groote Schuur Hospital, who analysed three viral loads of blood, the results came back positive, proving the strain was the same as the one had.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv Nicolette Bell, appreciated the roles played by the different partners within the criminal justice system in ensuring that the accused received sentences which fit the heinous crimes he committed against the most vulnerable members of society.
