Convicted killer Luyanda Botha not guilty of 2014 attempted rape

Convicted rapist and murderer Luyanda Botha was on Monday found not guilty of the attempted rape of a nursing college student almost a decade ago in Cape Town.

The former postal worker is serving life behind bars for the rape and murder of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana in 2019.

The attempted rape complaint dated back to an incident in June 2014 at a nursing college in Athlone.

Evidence presented to the Wynberg regional court indicated Botha had entered the college bathrooms and looked over the top of a shower, alarming the complainant.

“I believed that at this time this man wanted to rape me as it is strange for a man to go into female showers looking at them while showering,” she testified. She told the court she had fought him off.

Botha did not deny his conduct on the day but said his actions were the result of emotional distress in his relationship.

Magistrate Anthea Ramos said in her judgment, based on the evidence given by the complainant, it was subjectively reasonable for her to believe Botha wanted to rape her. However, the court had to objectively consider whether his actions indicated he intended to rape the complainant.

Botha was found to have been a good witness whose evidence was corroborated by his former girlfriend — a student at the nursing college — who testified they had agreed to meet on the day. He said after arriving at the college he was unable to find her and went to look for her in the bathrooms, where he heard water running.

Ramos said though Botha's reasoning for entering the bathrooms was strange, as long as it was reasonably possibly true, the court had to grant him the benefit of the doubt. It could not be said the case was proved beyond reasonable doubt.

The complainant had reported the incident to two other witnesses who testified. However, one said the complainant was bleeding around her mouth and the other did not mention that. The investigating officer did not notice anything out of the ordinary when the complainant gave her statement.

Attorney Kyle Petersen, representing Botha, said: “My client is happy with the outcome and I am also pleased with the judgment. It was a good, thorough unbiased judgment and applied the law correctly. That is why he was acquitted. I'm happy. All I wanted was to give him good representation and I think I did that.”

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