By Kopano Dibakwane
The Tonga Regional Court, which sat in Boschfontein, handed down three life sentences on Wednesday 21 May 2025, to a 35-year-old man after he was convicted of raping his 13-year-old step-daughter.
The man’s 36-year-old wife was also slapped with a 5-year suspended sentence for failing to report the crime to the authorities.
Speaking for Mpumalanga police, Lt-Col Jabu Ndubane said the accused reportedly raped the step-daughter on three occasions in 2017 while the mother was away.
“ The victim later told her mother what had happened, but her mother instructed her not to tell anyone, so she kept quite. The matter came to light when the victim’s aunt found a suicide note. She reported the incident to the (Schoemansdal) police (in 2018), a case docket was opened, and the accused was arrested for rape. His wife was also arrested for failing to report the crime,” said Lt-Col Ndubane.
Both were declared unfit to possess a firearms, and the accused’s name will reportedly be added on the national offences register.
The sentence was welcomed by Mpumalanga Acting Provincial Police Commissioner, Major-General(Dr)Zeph Mkhwanazi. In addition, he said those failing to report serious crimes will face the same consequences as the perpetrators.
