Disagreements between parents and their adult children are normal. But there is nothing normal about a man raping his own mother.
The man, 31, was arrested in July 2021 after raping his mother. He cannot be named to protect his mother’s identity.
The Moretele Regional Court heard that he found his mother cooking in the kitchen at their home at Stinkwater home.
“He subsequently dragged her to the bedroom and raped her. Shortly after this ordeal, she managed to escape and reported the matter to his younger sister. They then proceeded to report the matter to the police.”
After his arrest, he was denied bail and when the trial started, he pleaded guilty.
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In aggravation of sentence, the state prosecutor, Patricia Matlala, argued that the matter created a lot of shock to the victim, family and the community at large. She urged the court to also consider the seriousness of the offence committed. Magistrate Gilbert Sono agreed with the state and expressed disgust at the accused for his actions.
The man was sentenced to 20 years direct imprisonment for the crime.
In a separate case, taxi driver Luthando Veli (35) has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a 31-year-old passenger and further sentenced him to five years for the attempted rape of another 23-year-old woman he had given a lift to.
The East London Regional Court heard that on 21 November 2020, the woman was hitch-hiking on Oxford Street in the district of East London, going to Southernwood. A Toyota Avanza, operating as a taxi stopped for her, promising to transport her to her destination. She got into the motor vehicle and the driver past her destination, refusing to stop for her. He stopped at a secluded area, pulled the passenger out of the vehicle, assaulted, and raped her.
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“On 07 February 2021, another woman was hitchhiking from Mdantsane to the town of East London. A taxi stopped for her and there was only the driver inside. On Black Road between Mdantsane and East London, the driver said he wanted to look for other passengers, so he took a turn-off which led to a gravel road towards Reeston.
“The woman realised that the road leads to a forest and requested that she be dropped off. The driver stopped, locked all the doors, and started assaulting the woman but, she managed to get out through the window. The driver chased her, tripped her and she fell. He then got on top of her, took off his trousers and tried to undress the woman. Passersby noticed the commotion and intervened. The driver then ran away, leaving the vehicle at the scene.”
The police traced the owner of the motor vehicle involved in the abandoned vehicle, and the owner indicated that he had employed Luthando Veli as the driver and used the motor vehicle as a taxi. He was then traced and arrested and linked to the other rape case.
During the trial, Veli pleaded not guilty, admitting that he was indeed the driver of the vehicle involved in the first incident, but it was stolen from him earlier on that day. He claimed that the second victim had accepted his love proposal and they had agreed to go into the forest to have sex but could not explain why the woman ran away from him.
