Earlier this week, the Mthatha Regional Court sentenced 34-year-old Xola Sobhalule to eighteen years in prison for raping a minor.
According to Captain Welile Matyolo, on November 11, 2023, a 14-year-old girl was sleeping with her sister at Mthatha Slovo Park when she was raped by her father’s male friend, Sobhalule.
“Her father had arrived with the perpetrator, and they all slept in the same bed. At about 03:00, the victim was raped by Sobhalule,” Matyolo said.
He added: “A case of rape was opened on the same day and he was arrested on November 14 after Slovo Park community members had assaulted him on hearing about the rape.”
Sobhalule was hospitalised under police guard and was granted R2000,00 bail afterwards.
Sergeant Mdikane, a detective with the Mthatha Family Violence, Child Protection, Sexual Offences and Femicide Unit, was commended by the OR Tambo District Commissioner, Major General Norman Modishana.
The recognition follows her professional handling of a rape case from its occurrence on November 11, 2023, until its sentencing on August 4, noting that ultimate justice has been served for the young girl.
In a separate matter, two men, aged 25 and 26, received life imprisonment sentences from the Gqeberha Regional Court.
They were convicted of the rape and subsequent impregnation of their 17-year-old neighbour in Gelvandale on March 25, 2023.
The teenage victim was enticed into a shack under false pretences, sexually assaulted, and intimidated into silence. It was only in October 2023, upon discovering she was pregnant, that she came forward to report the occurrence.
Welcoming the verdict, Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Barry Madolo stated that the sentence highlights the gravity with which courts treat sexual crimes against children.
He emphasised that it serves as a clear warning that everyone involved in such actions, directly or indirectly, will be held completely responsible.
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