Cape Town - It was Christmas Day and Abongile Mgwebi knew her five-year-old daughter, Lilitha, was playing outside their home in the Green Point informal settlement in Khayelitsha.
But when she went to call her, the little girl was gone.
On Thursday Buti Charles Makheta, 40, a close neighbour of the family, was sentenced to serve 30 years in jail for raping and murdering Lilitha.
Her body was found in Makheta’s shack 20 days later, on January 15 this year.
Mgwebi says she misses seeing Lilitha playing outside.
“I haven’t really accepted it because when I see other children playing outside, I think of her, that she could’ve been playing with those children.”
Makheta admitted in the Western Cape High Court on Thursday that he raped Lilitha on the morning of December 25 - a week before her sixth birthday.
“He admits that he unlawfully and intentionally killed Lilitha by strangling her with his hands and by hitting her repeatedly over the head and body with a crutch,” Makheta’s plea and sentence agreement read.
Lilitha’s decomposing body was found in Makheta’s shack - a few metres from her home - on January 15. Makheta was arrested two days later and has been in custody since.
Makheta, 40, admitted that he killed Lilitha to silence her, because he feared if the community found out about the rape they would hurt him.
He wrapped Lilitha’s body in a blanket, damaged the lock to the shack to prevent community members and police from discovering the body and fled to Mount Fletcher in the Eastern Cape.
Residents later found the body.
Makheta also admitted that he had raped a 10-year-old Khayelitsha girl he knew, on February 6, 2010.
“He admits that he persisted with raping her despite the fact that she was crying, and that he placed a blanket over her head to muffle her cries,” states the agreement.
The mitigating factors before court included that Makheta was a first offender, showed remorse and revealed frank details of his crimes.
His highest level of education was Grade 6, he was married according to customary law and had two children, aged 18 and seven.
Makheta was sentenced to 30 years’ direct imprisonment for raping Lilitha and 30 years for her murder.
He was handed a further 20 years for raping the other girl. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Judge President John Hlophe also ordered that Makheta’s name be added to the National Register for Sex Offenders and the National Child Protection Registry.
jade.otto@inl.co.za
Cape Argus
