Western Cape High Court upholds life sentence for grandfather convicted of raping step-granddaughter

A grandfather will continue serving his life sentence for the rape of his seven-year-old step-granddaughter after he appealed against his conviction and sentence at the Western Cape High Court. 

The man, 65, committed the rape on the girl’s birthday in March 2016.

His appeal related to, among other reasons, the reliability of the testimony of the minor girl who was the single witness in the matter.

Further to this, the man argued that the regional magistrate overemphasised the severity of the crime and the interests of society. 

The minor girl accompanied her grandfather to Mitchells Plain by train on her birthday after he told her he wanted to buy her a birthday cake.

“He assured her that her grandmother, with whom she lived, had permitted him to take her along. He purchased the cake. He also bought food and drinks for them to consume. The appellant then led the minor to a secluded bush where he raped her. Seven years had elapsed before the minor testified,” the judgment read.

The grandfather then swore the girl to secrecy, and on her return home, she was punished by the grandmother for accompanying the grandfather without her permission. 

“The grandmother asked the appellant to leave her home as he had taken the minor away on a false pretext. The minor did not tell her grandmother or her aunt about the incident in the bush as she feared a further beating. 

“Shortly after the appellant had left, news of the minor’s rape filtered to the grandmother, but the minor’s father was implicated. The minor denied that the father would commit an act of that nature and divulged that the appellant was responsible. She was taken to a social worker and subsequently to the clinic for an examination. Her grandmother punished her for not disclosing the rape,” the judgment read.

In a J88 medicolegal report, the minor detailed that the man gave her money to keep her quiet. 

The grandmother, who died of natural causes in December 2020, submitted hearsay evidence before her death. The evidence was allowed by the magistrate and included details in which the grandmother admitted she punished her granddaughter and submitted that she did not want the minor to be alone with the appellant (the grandmother’s second husband) due to his inappropriate interest in women.

 According to the court record, the man could not explain why the minor would lie about the rape.

The minor’s victim impact statement was a simple hand-drawn image of two people on grass in a jagged circle with the overhead sun.

The expressions on the faces of the two people and the sun were described as conspicuous.

The older male is smiling while the younger female is sad, as the smiling sun looks away. The regional magistrate described the image as haunting. 

High Court Judge Ajay Bhoopchand said: “The minor’s victim impact statement was made when she was eight and in Grade 2. The court described it as a haunting image and pondered about the long-term effects that the rape would have on the minor. Art, in its quiet simplicity, screams truths louder than words do. A defenceless child trapped in an unbroken ring, her face etched in sad sorrow, used and discarded like some inanimate thing, his, a shameless smirk, a serpent’s sting.

“A child lost beneath a smiling sun, trust betrayed, and innocence undone. The unfathomable emotional and psychological sequelae and the developmental and learning impediments cannot be underestimated. The consequences for a rape victim are severe and permanent. A child victim has to endure the stigma and the trauma over a longer period.”

chevon.booysen@inl.co.za