SERIAL RAPIST SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT AND DECLARED UNFIT TO POSSESS A FIREARM
The Beaufort West Regional Court has sentenced rapist, Silindile April, to 2 life terms and 5 years imprisonment following his conviction on two counts of rape and assault with grievous bodily harm. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently and declared him unfit to possess a firearm. April’s reign of terror against women started in Prince Valley, Beaufort West in 2017, when he broke into the house of a 20-year-old woman, raped her, and stole her goods.
He was arrested and later granted bail, while on bail on the above case, he entered a 26-year-old woman’s house, raped, and assaulted her in November 2017. On 26 June 2019, he was at a house where a 27-year-old victim was also visiting her friend. In the early hours of the next morning, the woman wanted to go home, and he offered to accompany her as he was heading in the same direction as a person who stayed in the same street as the victim. On the way home, he strangled the victim, banged her head against the ground, and then raped her. The woman’s neighbours heard her scream and came out to check what was happening and the accused ran away when he saw the neighbour coming out.
In the first case where he raped a 20-year-old woman, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the rape and five years imprisonment for housebreaking. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently effectively sentencing him to a 10-year imprisonment. For the two rapes and assaults with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, he was arrested in prison after his DNA was found and matched on the national DNA data register system. After many challenges including the accused changing legal representatives, the trial started on 3 August 2022, where he pleaded not guilty to the two counts of rape and a count of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Prosecutor Hyron Goulding, says the accused denied committing the offences, and all the evidence including the DNA evidence and chain evidence of the DNA. “In April 2023, I sent an email to the defense asking if the accused still deny the DNA evidence linking him to the rape of the 26-year-old victim. The State was ready to call a Cape Town and Pretoria laboratory assistant to testify on the DNA evidence obtained. I sent another email on 19 June 2023 where the defense informed me that the accused changed his instructions and admitted committing all the offences. On 7 July 2023, he formally admitted committing the offences in court and was found guilty on all the charges.”
Goulding argued that the accused did not show genuine remorse but self-pity because his lies were caught out and could not dispute the DNA evidence. He further argued that through his denial of the offences, he caused the victims to relive the rape trauma by testifying in court about it, in so doing they relived the nightmare of events. He asked the court to impose life imprisonment for each of the rape cases and five years for the assault to cause grievous bodily harm. The court agreed with the state’s argument and sentenced the accused but ordered the sentences to run concurrently. The court declared the accused unfit to possess a firearm.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv Nicolette Bell, lauded the investigating and prosecution team as they had to work hard to ensure justice for the victims of the crimes. “At one point in this case, the complainant in court one and two disappeared and was untraceable. The team worked hard, traced her, and persuaded her to attend court. The complainant on count three, relocated to the Gauteng province, and tracing her became a challenge. After finding her, the team convinced her of the importance of coming to court to testify. We commend the team for the role they played to ensure justice for the victims and that a serial rapist has been removed from the streets of Beaufort West,” she said.
