Eastern Cape photographer sentenced for raping teenager 27 years ago

A man who raped a 14-year-old girl 27 years ago found out the hard way that rape cases do not prescribe when he was sentenced to 11 years in prison. 

The Zwelitsha regional court on Wednesday sentenced Xolani Qanqane, 58, for the rape he committed against a then 14-year-old girl in 1997. 

“The now 41-year-old woman, a social worker, was visiting a shopping centre in Qonce (formerly King William's Town) in 1997, where Qanqane was working as an independent photographer,” said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson in the Eastern Cape Luxolo Tyali.

The teenager, who was with her cousin, asked Qanqane to take a photograph of them. 

After the photo shoot, Qanqane lured the victim to a different location, stating that he was going to develop the photograph at another photographer’s stand. Her cousin had gone into another shop.   

“While at the other photographer’s stand, Qanqane persuaded the victim to take a photograph with him and, being a naive teenager, she agreed.

“A few days later, it came to the attention of the victim that the accused was claiming she was his girlfriend and that he was showing people the photograph to bolster his claim,” Tyali said. 

The victim was annoyed and concerned that her parents would hear about it. She confronted Qanqane at his place of work. He offered to give the victim the photograph but said it was at his house.    

“As they got close to his vehicle the accused slapped the victim and bundled her into his car. He drove her to his flat in Dimbaza, where he violently raped her before threatening her with death if she told anyone.” 

The girl did not report the incident for years.   

Around 2020, she recognised Qanqane as he was driving a minibus taxi in East London. The taxi had the cellphone numbers written on it and she took them down.   

After building up the courage, she phoned him with the sole purpose of seeking an apology.   

Instead of acknowledging his actions, Qanqane mistook her for someone else and told her that he was already punished for what he did to her.   

“It was at that moment that the victim realised that she was not the only victim of the accused,” Tyali said. 

The woman opened a case in 2021.   

“The only evidence in the docket was her statement. The senior public prosecutor, Brenan Sam, had to find evidence to corroborate the victim’s version after more than 24 years.” 

Tyali said Sam embarked on a painstaking process and built a case against the accused from scratch. 

“Each of these successful prosecutions is the culmination of months and even years of painstaking investigative and prosecutorial work and exemplifies hundreds of similar cases prosecuted successfully daily,” Tyali said. 

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