The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria has sentenced Mozambican national Anselma George Mahumane to two life terms on two counts of rape, and he was further sentenced to five years’ direct imprisonment for kidnapping and three years’ direct imprisonment for assault.
Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng ordered that the sentence of kidnapping and assault run concurrently with that of life.
The court ordered that Mahumane’s name be added to the National Register for Sex Offenders.
Mahumane, 35, raped two teenage girls aged 13 and 16, from Tsakane in Ekurhuleni.
On December 4, 2013, in the early evening, the 13-year-old was walking home to Tsakane Extension 1 when she was approached by Mahumane in an open space near the fire station. He overpowered, strangled and raped her, and then left her lying on the ground unconscious. After regaining consciousness she walked home and along the way she met police officers who took her to the police station to open a case and consult with a doctor.
Three years later, on December 3, 2016, while a 16-year-old girl was walking home from the shops, Mahumane and two other men – who were never traced – threatened the teenager with a knife and proceeded to take turns in raping her.
After they dragged her to a veld and left her there, she reported the matter to the police. Mahumane was arrested and later released in April 2017, after the magistrate refused a remand for DNA evidence, and the matter was struck off the court roll. However, Mahumane was rearrested in 2020 after he committed the same offence of rape and was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in July 2021.
In this matter, he pleaded not guilty and told the court that he was in a relationship with the 16-year-old complainant.
During sentencing proceedings, he asked the court to be lenient and deviate from imposing the prescribed sentence, because he did not know the results of his actions. However, State advocate Salome Scheepers told the court that Mahumane was not remorseful, and his only worry was that his actions got him arrested.
She further read into the record the victim impact statements of both the victims, where the 16-year-old wrote that after the incident she developed an STI which led to one of her ovarian tubes being removed, which might make it difficult for her to ever have children.
Over and above that, Scheepers told the court that the seriousness of the offences cannot be overemphasised. Mahumane took the innocence of both children and was therefore a perfect candidate to be removed from society for life.
In his judgment, Mokgoatlheng said he fully associated himself with the arguments and submissions made by the State; Mahumane showed no remorse and did not think about the lives of the children, therefore he cannot find any substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.
After the sentence, Mahumane, through his attorney, applied for leave to appeal the sentence in respect of the two life sentences. The NPA, however, successfully opposed the application.