WATCH | Life sentence for Ntokozo Zikhali, who pleaded guilty to raping 9-year-old girl

The man acquitted of the murder of Bokgabo Poo has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a nine-year-old girl in Wattville, Benoni, in 2021.

Ntokozo Zikhali, 31, was acquitted last week of the kidnap, rape, murder and mutilation of Bokgabo, 4, in October last year when he was out on bail in the rape case.

Judge Ian Cox said Zikhali showed no remorse for the crime despite his guilty plea.

Zikhali was not left with much of a choice, considering the evidence against him, the judge said.

Child rape is one of the most harrowing crimes confronting South Africa, he said.

“The rape of children has become an epidemic in this country. Rape is the most horrific and dehumanising violation of a person, it vexes the soul more than violating the body.

“The accused trampled on the constitutional rights of the complainant and showed her no respect. There is no justification for what he has done.”

Cox said Zikhali had asked the victim if he could take a photograph of her. When she consented, he took her to some trees where he raped her.

“It affected the child at school. Fortunately she improved, but it remains with her. Let’s hope it does not affect her relationship with males in the future.

“Sometimes children play in parks, streets, unattended with the belief they will not be harmed. It’s a fair expectation that an adult man should be able to control his desires without taking it out on the child,” said Cox.

He ruled Zikhali be registered in the sexual offenders database.

Hope Ngwana, a friend and community member, saluted the victim's bravery and said they were satisfied with the sentence. “If she did not identify him, he would still be roaming the streets.”

The victim's mother cried uncontrollably after hearing the judgment and could not speak. An impact letter written by her was earlier read out in court by the prosecution, in which she said she does not understand why bad things happen to good people.

“I will never forget what happened, it brings many traumas. My heart is bleeding heavy with anger. I ask myself why bad things happen to good people. We suffered a lot as to why a grown up man couldn’t control themselves.

“Why did he decide to rape my child? The perpetrator deserves to rot in jail. She was a very bright child at school and after the rape she wasn’t coping. Thank God she is better,” read the letter.

Zikhali is a single man with no children, who is reliant on his parents for financial support as he is unemployed. The court heard he dropped out of school in grade 10 due to suffering “headaches” when studying for exams. He previously worked for his father as a labourer but the business shut down years ago.

In his guilty plea, Zikhali said he went to the Masoleng Park, identified the victim and took her to a secluded area where he raped her before accompanying her back to the park — the same one where Bokgabo was last seen.

On the day he was seen on camera footage walking in front of Bokgabo. He said he was there with the hope of meeting the victim to apologise to her. 

TimesLIVE previously quoted a community member as saying he was well-known in the area. He called himself Harry Potter and was “always around children with a bag of sweets”.

The state asked the court to use the case as an example of what happens when gender-based violence is perpetrated against women and children.

“The courts need to put a stamp in combating it by handing down a heavy sentence,” said prosecutor Erik Sehlangu.

Zikhali was earlier this week found not guilty in the Bokgabo case after he could not be linked by DNA and his rights were not adequately explained to him after his arrest. He had alleged police assaulted him to force him into a false confession and pointing-out exercise. He had pointed out four locations at which no sign of Bokgabo's missing body parts were found.

The acquittal infuriated the family and some members of the Wattville community, who staged a protest outside the court on Thursday. Bokgabo's father Irvin Ndlovu has questioned what the police were doing to catch his daughter's killers. Her mother Tsholofelo Poo said she felt police incompetence robbed them of justice. 

TimesLIVE