CREATIVE ARTS TEACHER SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR REPEATEDLY RAPING A LEARNER
The Tembisa Magistrates’ Court sentenced a 50 -year- old creative arts teacher, Bethuel Lesetja Makgetha to five life-imposed terms for raping a grade seven learner between October and November 2019. Makgetha raped the 13-year-old learner multiple times in October 2019, manipulating her into staying after school and threatening academic harm if she spoke out. Unbeknown to the learner’s mother, who thought he was helping her daughter by escorting her home, Makgetha’s true intentions were sinister.
When the mother, a trained virginity tester, noticed changes in her daughter’s body, she confronted her, leading to the revelation of the truth and Makgetha’s eventual arrest. The complaint was examined and psychological help was received from the Thuthuzela Care Centre at the Tembisa Hospital. The court found the accused’s version of bare denial to be false and improbable and that Regional Court Prosecutor, Adele Erasmus proved the case beyond any reasonable doubt on all charges preferred. This sentence reflects the seriousness of the justice system in dealing with cases of gender-based violence and marks the end of the culmination of years of painstaking investigative and prosecutorial work by Sergeant Jacky Baloyi and Ms Erasmus.
