An Eastern Cape man has been sentenced to two life imprisonment terms after being found guilty of raping two young daughters of his live-in girlfriend eight years ago.
The Butterworth regional court sentenced the 48-year-old man on Friday.
The rapes happened in 2016.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims, raped the young girls when their mother was away.
Testifying previously, the investigating officer, Detective Warrant Officer Siyabulela Yeyana of the Butterworth family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit, said the accused, who is from Willowvale, had gone to stay with the family in a Dutywa village near town and “took a role of being a father figure to the two young girls”.
NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the victims were seven and nine years old at the time.
“They got a chance to report the rape to their elder brother, who was not staying with them [the mother and two girls].
“He then took it up with social workers in Dutywa and a case was opened in June 2017,” Tyali said.
The accused, who was then 41, was subsequently arrested at Ku-Mfula in Willowvale.
Though the unemployed man, who relied on piece jobs, was granted R1,500 bail, he failed later to attend the trial, saying he had no money to travel from Willowvale to Butterworth for the case.
A warrant of arrest was issued and he has been in custody since 2021.
The mother of the two young victims told the court the children had never told her of the rapes.
On Tuesday last week, the man was found guilty on both counts of rape and, on Friday, he was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment.
Prosecutor advocate Noluthando Mgqibelo ensured that the state case came to finality and the accused was sentenced.
Tyali said the sentences would run concurrently.
The NPA welcomed the sentence.
In a separate case, 30-year-old Lundi Mabhoza was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by the Butterworth regional court on Thursday for raping a 13-year-old girl in December 2021 in Chizela village in Dutywa.
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