An Eastern Cape father (54) was sentenced on March 6 to two life imprisonment terms by the Mount Fletcher Regional Court for raping his biological twin daughters on numerous occasions over more than ten years. One of the twins is mentally disabled.
The Mount Fletcher Regional Court further sentenced the man to five years on each of the two counts of sexual assault for which he was convicted.
Reporting on the crimes committed by the man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of his victims, National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) spokesperson Luxolo Tyali stated that the court heard the father began inappropriately touching his daughters after their mother passed away in 2011. At that time, the girls were 11 years old and living with him.
Tyali explained that the father would rape one twin, and after that twin left town for employment purposes in 2019, he then started raping the mentally disabled twin.
Tyali further elaborated: “The supervisor of the employed twin noticed she was not well psychologically and inquired about her well-being. She divulged that her father had been raping her. The supervisor informed the girls’ older sister, who confronted their father, but the man denied it.”
Tyali revealed that the twin left behind with the father told her older sister that after her twin got employed, the father started raping her too.
“A family meeting was called, and the father admitted to his criminal deeds, leading to a case being opened by the twins’ uncle and his arrest.
“During the trial, he pleaded not guilty and claimed that the disabled child was falsely accusing him because she did not want him to keep her disability grant,” Tyali added.
State Advocate Thamsanqa Vinindwa presented evidence from one of the twins’ supervisors, the twins’ older sister, the uncle, and the victims. Under cross-examination, the accused could not explain why all his children accused him of the crime.
Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Barry Madolo commended the family of the victims for reporting the matter to the authorities when it came to their attention, instead of attempting to conceal it for fear of humiliation, as is often the case.
