First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.
Between December 2020 and 3 March 2021, 10 South African men were sentenced to life imprisonment for rape.
Those men removed from society include a 37-year-old uncle who raped his 10-year-old niece, a 44-year-old man who raped his 14-year-old stepdaughter, a man who raped a nine-year-old and an 11-year-old after luring them into his home, as well as two serial rapists who kidnapped their victims, held them hostage and raped them.
Although this might seem like a drop in the ocean in a country that lives with a seemingly permanent “second plague” of gender-based violence (GBV), the sentences by courts across the country are a moment for pause and faint optimism.
Bhisho High Court hands life sentence to Peddie man for rape, assault & arson Sibusiso Woji was sentenced in the Bhisho High Court this week for attempted rape, rape, kidnapping, assault and arson. Picture: Pixabay.com
CAPE TOWN - A man who terrorised a Peddie community will be spending life in prison.
Sibusiso Woji was sentenced in the Bhisho High Court this week for attempted rape, rape, kidnapping, assault and arson.
The crimes were perpetrated in February.
Woji broke into a man s home and forced him to accompany him.
When they arrived at the home of a 19- year-old woman, Woji assaulted the man and abducted the youth. He later raped her.