Rustenberg – A dirty 55-year-old uncle has been slapped with a long prison term for molesting his 6-year-old niece.
On Friday, the Tlhabane Regional Court, in the North West, sentenced Lebogela Motswadi to 20 years imprisonment for sexually violating his niece.
The court ruled that Motswadi’s name to be included in the register of sexual offenders.
He was further declared undesirable to work with children. The court also declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
North West National Prosecuting Authority Spokesperson Henry Mamothame said Motswadi’s conviction emanates from an incident that occurred on 1 January 2018 in Phokeng.
The NPA spokesperson recounted the events of that fateful night, saying
just after midnight, while the family was celebrating New Year’s, the mother of the 6-year-old noticed that her little girl was not with her cousins in the area they were playing.
She went back to the house, where she found her visibly frightened daughter lying next to her uncle.
Upon enquiring why she was frightened, the child told her mother that her uncle kissed her and inserted his finger in her private parts.
The child was subsequently taken for a medical examination, which resulted in the matter being reported to the police.
The accused was arrested two days after the matter was reported to the police. He appeared in court and was granted bail.
However, the accused then failed to appear for a scheduled court date, and a warrant for his arrest was subsequently issued.
The accused was rearrested and was being held in police custody until the completion of the trial.
Motswadi pleaded not guilty to the charge.
But, to the accused’s detriment, authorities discovered that he had two previous convictions of rape which he committed in 1988 and 1999.
In aggravation of sentence, the state prosecutor, Sangweni Zimema, highlighted to the court the trust that the child had for the accused, and he instead abused it.
Magistrate Segakweng Moeng agreed with the state and remarked that the age of the accused and the severity of the case cumulatively constitute compelling and substantial factors, resulting in a 20-year jail term.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West, Dr. Rachel Makhari, lauded the prosecutor, Warrant Officer Obed Ramahoyo, and other role-players for their collaboration that yielded a successful conviction of the paedophile.
