Three life sentences for KZN traditional healer turned rapist

A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to three life terms in prison for raping a 15-year-old girl.

DURBAN, May 11 (ANA) – A 40-year-old man from the KwaZulu-Natal province has been sentenced to three life terms in prison for raping a 15-year-old girl, the South African Police Service confirmed on Monday.

Sfiso Emmanuel Mngadi, a traditional healer from the south coast of KZN, was sentenced on April 28 by the Ulundi Regional Court, police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said in a statement.

This, after the court completed the hearing on how Mngadi had conducted the rape.

“On 12 December 2018, a 15-year-old girl was taken to a traditional healer in Mahlabathini area by her parents to seek traditional healing.

“The traditional healer was trusted by the parents of the victim with the hope of healing the girl but (she) was brutally raped repeatedly by the man they trusted,” Mbele said.

The colonel added that Mngadi repeatedly raped the child and recorded all of it on his cellphone.

Mngadi’s crimes were found out, however, when the aunt of the victim visited him last year and caught him watching the videos of the rape on his phone.

Mbele said that that was when a case of rape was reported and registered at the Mahlabathini SAPS in northern KZN.

“The docket was transferred to the Ulundi Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit. The accused was placed under arrest and tried in court,” Mbele said.

KwaZulu-Natal was dubbed the “rape capital” of the country for the second consecutive year according to the SAPS crime statistics measuring the second quarter of 2020/2021.

“July, August and September 2020 were dangerous months for thousands of women in this country,” Police Minister Bheki Cele said during a press conference in November last year.

A total of 8,922 cases of rape were reported during this period, the minister said.

“Over a thousand persons were raped in public places such as parks, beaches, parking areas or open fields. The same analysis also revealed that more people were raped in KwaZulu-Natal than any other province,” said Cele.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher