Cape Town - A parolee has been sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and murder in the Johannesburg High Court.
Jacob Mokibe, 39, was convicted on charges of abduction, rape, murder, and obstructing or defeating the administration of justice.
According to the plea explanation by Mokibe before the court, he killed the minor because he had feelings for her mother.
According to the evidence before the court, on February 15, 2022, 12-year-old Mathlogonolo Maditse followed her usual routine and left home for school when Mokibe waited for her at the school gate in Dobsonville.
He called the girl and told her that her family had gone to the bushes to pray and he was going to take her to them.
The girl followed Mokibe as she regarded him as an uncle, and he was befriended with her biological uncle.
Mokibe took the child to a bushy area in Dube and then raped the girl. Thereafter, he strangled her to death.
The court further heard Mokibe waited for some time to make sure the girl was dead.
He placed her body in the reeds in an attempt to hide the body from being discovered.
Mokibe fled the scene and met up with a friend, where he consumed drugs and alcohol.
The drugs and alcohol affected his hypertension, and this led to his admittance to the Jabulani Hospital.
In March 2022, Mokibe was arrested for violating his parole conditions, and while being detained, he confessed to the child’s murder, and took police to the scene of the crime.
The 12-year-old girl’s decomposed body was found on March 24, 2022.
During sentencing arguments, State Advocate Rotondwa Phungo submitted to the court that Mokibe killed the girl and brutally raped her despite her trusting him and referring to him as ‘uncle’.
The victim impact report presented to the court by the probation officer said the child’s mother has never been the same since her brutal death.
The court heard the mother regularly walks out of the home when hearing school children return from school, hoping her daughter is among the group of children.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Gauteng division, Phindi Mjonondwane, said the court made an order that Mokibe be referred to Sterkfontein Psychiatric Hospital for risk assessment.
She said this was to determine whether or not he could be declared a dangerous criminal for the purpose of sentencing, taking into account his previous convictions and the crimes he committed while out on parole.
The court was informed through a report compiled by the institution, which stated Mokibe demonstrated a high risk of re-offending and was deemed a danger to society.
“Gender-based violence continues to wreak havoc in our country, and society has legitimate expectations that the perpetrators of these crimes will receive severe punishment.
“The NPA will continue prosecuting these crimes with the vigorousness they deserve. We applaud Advocate Phungo and Sergeant Rudzani Ratshothe for delivering justice to the Maditse family,” Mjonondwane said.
IOL