“This case must serve as a deterrent to perpetrators of such crimes as the SAPS regards the safety and security of the farming community as a priority,” EC Provincial Commissioner, Lt Gen Ntshinga, said in an SAPS media release this evening, in which he welcomed the 173 year-sentence handed down today, 6 June, in the Port Elizabeth High Court.
Sebenzile Simane, 32, was sentenced to a total of 173 years and two life sentences in prison. All counts will run concurrent to the life sentence. The accused will effectively serve a life sentence in prison.
The accused was sentenced on 17 counts including rape, housebreaking, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, possession of a firearm and ammunition, attempted murder as well as forcing a minor to watch a sexual act.
Lt Gen Ntshinga also applauded “the sterling work of the investigation team and prosecuting authority for ensuring a watertight case against Simane. “Dedication, commitment and thorough investigation contributed to making sure that this heartless criminal is removed from society for a very long time.”
The SAPS statement to the media recounted the attack in Hankey and the series of incidents in 2018, which led to the accused’s arrest, as follows:
On 23 March 2018 the 44-year-old victim and her children were attacked in their house on a farm in Hankey by the gun-wielding Simane. During the ordeal, the woman was shot and raped. Money was also withdrawn from an ATM.
On 28 March, the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit in Port Elizabeth, with the assistance of Palmietfontein detectives, arrested the 32 year-old accused at Kwa Guna administrative area in the Nketlana Location, a few kilometres from the Lesotho border. Some of the property taken during the incident was recovered.
The accused appeared in the Hankey Magistrates’ Court on, 3 April and remained in custody until the finalisation of the case.
-Edited
St Francis Chronicle 