The Siyabuswa Regional Court in Mpumalanga has sentenced a man to 25 years behind bars for raping a nine-year-old girl in 2013.
Samuel Zoo Kubhayi, 29, from Vaalbank, was sentenced last week.
"The court heard how the accused dragged the girl who had been playing with her friends to the bushes and raped her on that fateful day, before assaulting her," police spokesperson Col Mtsholi Bhembe said on Thursday.
The police arrested Kubhayi in July 2018 and granted him bail.
"During the trial, he absconded from court but was rearrested on May 13 2019 through investigation."
Mpumalanga police commissioner Lt-Gen Mondli Zuma said on Thursday: "People are not free in their lives and homes due to problematic people such as Kubhayi. Police will work tirelessly in making sure that such people are removed from society."
