Africa-Press – South-Africa. Zodwa Nyawose was visibly emotional when the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg handed three life terms to the man who raped and murdered her granddaughter.
Nkanyiso Radebe, 27, raped and killed his six-year-old relative Emihle on Sunday, 12 February 2023.
He pleaded guilty on Tuesday, paving the way for Wednesday’s sentencing proceedings.
“Although I’ll probably never find peace, I am satisfied with the sentence,” said Nyawose, 51, from Umthwalume in KwaZulu-Natal.
“I am mostly devastated for my daughter and the father of her baby. Both could not even summon the strength to be here today. I had placed a great deal of trust in Nkanyiso,” she told News24.
In his plea, Radebe told the court he had been digging a pit toilet for the deceased’s grandmother on the day of the incident.
The court was informed that Radebe was a casual labourer and that Grade 7 as his highest academic qualification.
He often conducted menial work for residents in Umthwalume and earned around R150 per day.
Prior to going to the deceased’s home, he consumed a quart of beer and one glass of vodka, the court heard.
“I worked at the deceased’s home and the pick I was using broke. The deceased’s grandmother said she would ask her neighbour to lend her their pick. I asked the deceased’s grandmother to give me money to buy cigarettes while she spoke to her neighbour,” he added.
“She gave me R10, and I went to the tuckshop. The deceased followed me. At the tuckshop, I bought cigarettes and matches, the deceased bought airtime for her mother and two packets of chips.”
Radebe informed the court that after visiting the tuckshop, he asked the deceased to follow him, using another route, along a river and some bushes.
“She listened and followed me.”
While walking past the bushes, he grabbed the girl and raped her.
He added:
Radebe also said that afterwards, the deceased stood up and threatened to tell her grandmother.
“I got scared that she would report me and decided to kill her. I grabbed her and dropped her to the ground. I proceeded to strangle her until she was lifeless.”
Sentencing
Ahead of Judge Piet Bezuidenhout’s sentence, defence lawyer Amanda Hulley pleaded for mercy.
She told the court Radebe was a first-time offender who often supported the deceased’s mother financially, despite the fact she was a child support grant recipient.
Hulley told the court Radebe had grown up under impoverished circumstances as his father died when he was young, and his mother had been unemployed for most of her life.
She added there was a chance Radebe might be rehabilitated in prison.
But prosecutor Mbongeni Mthembu argued against a lenient sentence.
“The accused abused the trust relationship between him and the deceased. Instead of protecting her, he raped and killed her.”
Mthembu said Radebe had committed “the most callous and heinous crime” and had killed the deceased “in the most barbaric manner by manual strangulation”.
He called for a “strong sentence”, arguing it would deter perpetrators of gender-based violence and femicide.
Bezuidenhout agreed with Mthembu.
He told Radebe while it was commendable he had admitted to wrongdoing, there was nothing extraordinary about him which warranted a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence.
“I have perused the impact statement from the mother of the deceased and her grandmother, it’s clear that they were deeply hurt, and they may never heal from this.
“You showed the deceased no mercy.”
Bezuidenhout found Radebe guilty of two counts of rape and murder.
He said, in accordance with the law, Radebe would serve his three life terms concurrently.
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