The Director of Public Prosecutions, Grahamstown v Mantashe

The respondent was convicted in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, Grahamstown on three counts of rape in terms of s 3 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007. The complainant was a nine-year-old child who lived with her aunt and the respondent, the aunt’s boyfriend. Over several occasions in April 2017, the respondent raped the complainant in their home, inserting his penis and fingers into her vagina while she slept. The complainant was threatened not to disclose the abuse. Medical examination confirmed penetration over an extended period. The high court convicted the respondent and sentenced him to an effective 22 years’ imprisonment, finding that substantial and compelling circumstances justified a departure from the prescribed sentence of life imprisonment. The State appealed against the sentence.

The appeal was upheld. The sentence imposed by the high court was set aside and replaced with a sentence of life imprisonment.

The case reinforces the strict approach to minimum sentencing for the rape of children and underscores the limited scope for departing from prescribed sentences. It affirms that ordinary mitigating factors, including first-offender status and intoxication, do not constitute substantial and compelling circumstances. The judgment strengthens jurisprudence emphasising judicial adherence to the legislative framework governing serious sexual offences against children.