MAN FOUND GUILTY OF RAPE, ACQUITTED ON KIDNAPPING AND MURDER IN BRAKPAN CASE
The Pretoria High Court sitting in Benoni, found Ntokozo Khulekani Zikhali (28), from Brakpan guilty of rape of a 9-year-old girl. However the court found him not guilty on a charge of kidnapping , murder and violation of the corpse of a 4-year-old girl, Bokgabo Poo, as well as defeating the administration of justice.
Zikhali was charged based on two case dockets. The first docket was of rape of a 9-year-old, where it was alleged that on 08 August 2021, the minor was playing with her friends in the park in Tamboville, when Zikhali approached her, picked her up and took her to a dam, where he raped her and ran away. Zikhali was linked to this offence through DNA evidence. After that incident Zikhali was arrested and released on bail.
The second case docket was opened while he was still out on bail. The allegation was that on 10 October 2022, he kidnapped, killed and violated the body of a 4-year-old girl and buried her body parts in a shallow grave.
In court, he pleaded guilty to the charge of rape of the 9-year-old girl and pleaded not guilty to all other charges. The state led evidence of video footage showing the man and the 4-year-old walking in close proximity of each other. Further, the state also relied on a confession and pointing out of scene by the accused.
The court found that the pointing out process was not procedural, as the accused person was not properly read his rights, and therefore the judge ruled against the admissibility of that evidence.
Furthermore, the investigator who took down the confession statement of the accused, testified in court that when the accused was making the confession statement, he had bruises on his body and had told him that he was assaulted prior to making the statement. Therefore the judge ruled against admissibility of that evidence as it was taken as coercion.
The state was left with video footage evidence which was found to be not conclusive, and therefore was not proof beyond reasonable doubt against the accused.
In such circumstances, where the evidence that the states relies on is inconclusive and thus ruled inadmissible, the only appropriate ruling by the court is acquittal. The state therefore accepts the court’s ruling, although it is understandable that it leaves the family and the community devastated that they did not get the closure and justice they hoped for.
The matter was postponed to 10 August 2023, for sentencing proceedings, following the conviction on rape.
