By Kaya 959 Reporter
A father has been sentenced for raping his daughter more than 40 years ago. Nyamekile Alfred Bhenge, now 80, raped his daughter between 1978 and 1984.
NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali says Bhenge committed the crimes before the Minimum Sentences Act came to effect.
The court, therefore, used its discretion in sentencing Bhenge, and took into consideration his age and health. He will spend six years behind bars.
His daughter has since cut ties with her family and changed her identity. She gave permission for Bhenge to be named.
“Bhenge started raping his daughter when she was 14. She had gone to live with him in Mthatha since her parents’ divorce. Her mother worked as a domestic in Durban,” Tyali says.
In March 1983, the woman fell pregnant.
“Paternity tests conducted during investigations positively identified Bhenge as the biological father of the now 37-year-old man,” he says.
After giving birth, the daughter ran away from home and relocated to Gauteng.
ALSO READ: Passengers whip out phones instead of helping woman being raped on train
Daughter reports rape
She only decided to report her ordeal to authorities in Johannesburg after the successful prosecution of ex-tennis professional player and coach, Bob Hewitt in 2015.
Hewitt was sentenced for raping and sexually assaulting young girls in the 1980s and 1990s.
“The Gauteng police transferred the case to Mthatha where upon completion of investigations, Bhenge was arrested. He was convicted in July this year after pleading guilty,” Tyali says.
In his plea explanation, Bhenge blamed alcohol. He claimed that he committed the rapes while drunk and thought his daughter was one of his “many girlfriends” as his wife had left him.
In pre-sentence reports submitted to the court, the victim, who is now an established businesswoman, vowed to never forgive her father. She added that she wants nothing to do with her entire extended family due to the abuse she endured.
