FATHER SENTENCED FOR SIX YEARS FOR RAPING HIS DAUGHTER 40 YEARS AGO
He raped her a number of times till he gave birth to a son who is now 37 years old
Mthatha: Mthatha Regional Court sentenced Nyamekile Alfred Bhenge (80) to six years direct imprisonment for raping his biological daughter between year 1978 and 1984 on Monday.
The victim in this case has since cut ties with her family and changed her identity. She gave consent for the name of her rapist father to be made public.
When Bhenge started raping his daughter, she was 14 years old. They stayed together at Ngangelizwe Township in Mthatha while her mother, who has since divorced Bhenge, worked as a migrant domestic worker in Durban.
As a result of the rapes, the daughter gave birth to a son in March 1983. Paternity tests conducted during investigations positively identified Bhenge as the biological father of the now 37-year-old man.
After giving birth, the daughter ran away from home and relocated to Gauteng. She only decided to report her ordeal to authorities in Johannesburg after the much publicised successful prosecution of ex-tennis professional player and coach Bob Hewitt in 2015. Hewitt was sentenced for raping and sexually assaulting young girls in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Gauteng police transferred the case to Mthatha where upon completion of investigations, Bhenge was arrested. He was convicted in July this year after pleading guilty.
In his plea explanation, Bhenge blamed alcohol. He claimed that he committed the rapes while drunk and thought his daughter was one of his “many girlfriends” as his wife had left him.
In pre-sentence reports submitted to court, the victim, who is now an established business woman, vowed to never forgive her father, adding that she wants nothing to do with her entire extended family due to the abuse she endured.
Since the crimes were committed before the Minimum Sentences Act came to effect, the court used its discretion in sentencing Bhenge, and took into consideration his age and health.
