A pastor and traditional healer was recently sentenced to
three life imprisonment by the Elliotdale Regional Court for raping three minor
girls who were sent by their parents for healing.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson
Luxolo Tyali, Lubabalo Sabhawu raped the victims, who were aged 14, 15 and 16
at the time on numerous occasions at a homestead that had been provided by his
congregants to him at Zikolota village in the district of Elliotdale.
He is originally from another village and had duped his
congregants into believing that he was a “man of God with supernatural powers”.
“After violating his victims, he would threaten that he
would cast a spell that would cause them to be struck by lightning. The
terrified young victims believed him and kept their abuse a secret. His deeds
were uncovered when all the girls got a sexually transmitted disease. When
their parents took them to hospital, they confided to the nurses that they had
been raped by him,” said Tyali.
Following his arrest and the state’s successful opposition
to his bail application, Sabhawu pleaded not guilty. The victims all testified
that they tested HIV positive following the rape and were now all on
anti-retroviral treatment. Tyali said it is only after the state had closed its
case that Sabhawu changed his plea to that of guilty.
Handing down the sentence, Magistrate Sizakele Sihlahla
agreed that Sabhawu had abused his position to inflict the worst physical and
psychological injuries to the innocent young girls.
“They were raped by their pastor, the person
they expected protection and counselling in their time of need. This behaviour
can never be tolerated by our courts,” said Sihlahla.
