BLOEMFONTEIN – The Bloemfontein Sexual Offences Court in the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court handed down a life sentence via an audio-visual link – a first-of-a-kind ruling yesterday – sentencing an 84-year-old man from Petrusburg for a sexual offence involving a minor. The victim was eight years old when the sexual exploitation became known in 2024.
Brigadier Thandi Mbambo, provincial spokesperson for Free State police, said the sentencing proceedings were conducted via an audio-visual link to the accused, who is currently hospitalised and awaiting surgery. She the court handed mandatory life sentence, deviating from the accused’s attorney’s plea for suspended sentence.
“The attorney handed in a correctional supervision report, asking the court not to send him prison because of his age. The state argued that his age did not stop him from committing these horrific offenses and that the court should sentence him to the prescribed minimum sentences applicable.
“The state addressed court on the seriousness of the offense and the fact that the accused is still a threat to the children. The state argued that the victim impact statement that was handed in clearly shows the trauma the child went through,” said Mbambo.
She said presiding magistrate Ingram Matroos found that there were indeed no compelling and substantial circumstances present to justify a deviation from the minimum sentence. The accused was sentenced as follow: life imprisonment for the rape, 15 years for Section 17; Sexual exploitation, and four years for Section 21; Cause a child to witness a sexual acts. Mbambo said the court ordered that the accused’s details be entered in the National Register for Sexual Offenders.
The child’s exploitation became known during July 2024 after it came to the attention of a female teacher in Petrusburg that an eight-year-old girl might be a victim of sexual abuse by the accused. Mbambo said the teacher consulted with the child, and she reported to the teacher that “Oom Bennie steeka haar”.
“When the teacher asked what “steeka” meant, the girl demonstrated sexual movements with her body.” On further probing, Mbambo said the child reported that the 84-year-old ‘uncle’ raped her.
“She also reported that he gave her and her friends bread, biscuits, and soft drinks and that they were allowed to swim in his swimming pool after which he would rape her. She reported that he raped her in his bedroom, on the bed, while other children were watching,” said Mbambo.
She said the victim was a very good witness, and her version was corroborated by her two friends who witnessed the rape. “The forensic nurse testified that the medical report was in line with the history that was reported,” she said.
Mbambo said the magistrate found that all the children were very credible witnesses and that they would not have been able to provide such detail if they had been coached or instructed to make false allegations. She said the magistrates rejected the accused’s version of alleged that the children had been instructed to make false allegations against him.
