Woman jailed 20 years for raping nine-year-old neighbour

A 19-year-old woman has been sentenced to 20 years’ direct imprisonment for raping a nine-year-old girl in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), in one of several sentences recently handed down by the Umzimkhulu Regional Court.

How the attack unfolded

Police say the woman lured the child, who was her neighbour, into her room before sexually assaulting her.

“The woman called the victim to her room, where she instructed the child to undress and raped her with her fingers,” said KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda.

The Umzimkhulu Regional Court convicted her after finding that she had called the girl into her room, told her to undress and then sexually assaulted her.

Court’s crackdown on sexual offences

The conviction came as part of a wave of serious sexual offence cases reaching the sentencing stage at the end of the month, following investigations by the Kokstad Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit.

Netshiunda said the court had “a busy end to the month, as serious sexual offences cases reached the sentencing stage”.

Attack on the way home

In a separate case, on the evening of 9 December 2018, a 25-year-old woman was walking home from a friend’s residence in Soshanguve when she encountered Tshepo Kekana.

Kekana pointed a firearm at her and demanded her cellphone and money. When she said she had neither, he forced her into a nearby open veld, raped her and fled. She reported the incident to a nearby police station immediately.

Kekana was arrested on 26 March 2026 while already in custody for an unrelated matter, following police investigations.

Guilty plea, but no leniency

Kekana pleaded guilty during court proceedings and asked the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence, arguing that his plea showed remorse and saved court time.

State Prosecutor Setuma Mashabathagka opposed the request, contending that Kekana’s guilty plea “was not motivated by genuine remorse but by the overwhelming evidence against him”.

Mashabathagka told the court that Kekana was a repeat offender and that this conviction marked “the third time he had been convicted of rape”. In addition to the latest charges, he is also serving a life sentence for murder.

The prosecutor argued that Kekana’s history of violent offending showed he is “a habitual sexual offender who poses a serious threat to society” and that the complainant “would continue to endure the trauma caused by his actions for the rest of her life”.

He was sentenced to 25 years’ direct imprisonment.