Cape Town Regional Court Photo: Jenni Evans

• A 69-year-old man from Dunoon will be in jail for the rest of his life for repeatedly raping a vulnerable child who watched DStv at his house. 
• His girlfriend was the child’s nanny, and the child said he was popular and a church goer so she thought no one would believe her. 
• Her situation upset the court staff so much that they clubbed in to buy the child uniform, bag, and stationery to fulfil her dream of going back to school.

The Cape Town Regional Court put a 69-year-old Dunoon rapist in prison for life, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday.

NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the man’s partner was a nanny, and the child would sometimes sleep over with her nanny.

The old man also went to church with the victim’s family and was well known to them. 

He started grooming the girl when she was 5 – giving her money for school, food, and letting her watch DStv at his home.

While she was watching television, he would abuse her sexually. 

This was a man who had already been sentenced to five years in prison, suspended for five years, for sexual assault in March 2016.

READ | Two women, man accused of trafficking girl for sham marriage fail to have case discharged 

A victim impact statement compiled by court preparation officer Babalwa Hlatana found that the girl has no self-confidence and hates herself. 

She feels she is not like other girls anymore. 

Eventually, she plucked up the courage to go to the police. She did not report him initially because he was popular in Dunoon so she thought nobody would believe her.

The court noted that she comes from a struggling family, living with her unemployed aunt and siblings. 

Their situation at her home is so desperate that the staff at the court bought her school uniform, stationery, and a school bag because she wanted to carry on studying. 

The rapist was sentenced to six years in prison for grooming and to life in prison for rape. 

READ | Life in prison for Dunoon man who raped 7-year-old girl and infected her with HIV

The court ordered that his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders, the National Child Protection Register, as it found him unsuitable to work with children and that he was unfit to possess a firearm.

It further made a search-and-seizure order of any firearms and ammunition he may have in his house.

The State did not name him to prevent exposing the child to secondary victimisation because his partner was her nanny. 

Ntabazalila said this is the fifth case of a man convicted of committing sexual crimes against children in October. 

He added: 

Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, advocate Nicolette Bell, welcomed the sentence and the effort put in by law enforcement and prosecution teams in reducing the scourge of heinous crimes committed against the most vulnerable in our society, the children.