PASTOR James Thubakgale will rot in jail.
Thubakgale (58) was yesterday sentenced to two life sentences in the Mankweng Regional Court for raping two minor children.
The pastor’s heavy sentences will run concurrently.
Handing down the sentences, Magistrate Louis Van der Walt told Thubakgale that as a pastor, he was supposed to protect every member of his church.
Thubakgale of Devine Deliverance Church in Seshego outside Polokwane, Limpopo, was supposed to have been sentenced on 21 October last year. But his cases were postponed to March this year, as he was too sick to appear in court.
He was found guilty on both counts of rape in August last year by the same court.
The court had granted the pastor bail of R200 000 after he was convicted.
But Thubakgale remained in the police cells until yesterday as all his church members, including his wife, had turned their backs on him and there was no one to pay the bail. The victims were aged 14 and 17 at the time of the rape incidents that were committed in 2010 and 2011.
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Thubakgale was bust in 2012.
NPA spokeswoman Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said they worked hard on this case to ensure he was convicted and sentenced.
“With the evidence we collected and was brought to us, the NPA was confident that we will do well in this case,” she said.
The pastor is also facing another four counts of rape, including assault and fraud.
