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South Africa: Western Cape High Court, Cape Town
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[2007] ZAWCHC 96
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S v Dili (CC125/2006) [2007] ZAWCHC 96 (30 May 2007)
IN
THE
HIGH
COURT
OF
SOUTH
AFRICA
(CAPE
OF GOOD HOPE PROVINCIAL DIVISION)
DATE: 30
MAY 2007
CASE
NUMBER: CC125/2006
In
the
matter
between:
STATE
And
ZWELETHU
DILI
SENTENCE
HLOPHE. JP:
A little while ago 1
confirmed that you are guilty of rape as charged and that you had
raped an 11 year old minor child. I know
have
to
decide
on
an
appropriate
sentence
to
be
metered out
to
you.
I
need
to
explain
the
sentencing
process,
what
goes
through the
mind
of
any
sentencing
judicial
officer
be
it
a
judge
or
a
magistrate.
The
first
thing
that
the
court
will
take
into
account
is
the
crime which
has
been
committed.
With
regard
to
crime
we
look
at the
nature
of
the
crime,
its
seriousness
and
the
manner
in which
the
crime
was
committed.
Rape
is
a
very
serious
crime which
involves
an
invasion
of
the
women's
privacy
and
in
this
particular
case
you
raped
an
11
year
old
child.
I
view
rape
of
a
minor
child
in
a
very
serious
light,
particularly
with
being
had
a
huge
age
disparity
between
the
victim
of
rape and
yourself.
You
were
28
years
old
at
the
time
and
the
poor child
was
just
11
years
old.
a
disparity
of
17
years.
Furthermore
in
this
regard
it
is
not
without
significance
that you
raped
a
victim
or
a
complainant
who
knew
you,
the
victim of
rape
was
known
to
you
and
her
family
had
in
fact
accommodated
you
when
you
were
kicked
out
of
your
own family.
You
are
not
a
grateful
person
at
all
and
you
have
no soul
quitee
frankly.
The
second
factor
which
any
court
would
take
into
account
would
be
the
interest
of
the
criminal,
in
this
case
yourself.
Your
personal
factors
were
placed
before
court
by
your
pro deo
of
legal
aid
advocate,
Mr
de
Villiers.
He
told
the
court that
you
are
30
years
old
now
and
that
you
passed
grade
6
and started
to
work
in
order
to
support
your
family
and
your
minor
child.
You
are
obviously,
like
so
many
of
us,
from
a
relatively
poor
background-
You
have
1
minor
child
who
is
age
4
at
this point
in
time.
ave
The
third
factor
which
is
equally
important
is
the
need
to protect
the
interest
of
the
community.
Rape
is
certainly
on
the rise,
particularly
in
the
Western
Cape,
it
is
escalating.
Parliament
is
not
unmindful
about
this.
Hence
the
minimum
legislation
in
terms
of
which
someone
convicted
of
raping
a child
under
the
age
of
16
years
must
be
sentenced
to
life
imprisonment.
The
court
can
only
deviate
from
the
prescribed
minimum
sentence
of
life
imprisonment
if
it
finds
that
there
were
substantial
and
compelling
factors
dictating
otherwise.
In
this case
your
lawyer,
Mr
De
Villiers,
argued
that
the
court
should not
impose
life
sentence,
because
there
were
a
number
of
compelling
and
substantial
factors.
He
argued
quite
rightly
that
you
have
consumed
intoxicating
liquor
which
possibly
impaired
your
judgment.
Furthermore
he
argued
that
the offence
were
not
premeditated,
but
most
importantly
that
you have
already
been
in
prison
for
a
period
of
18
months
waiting to
be
sentenced
today
Furthermore
although
you
have
a previous
conviction
for
theft
which
was
committed
in
1998,
it
is not
relevant
to
rape
which
is
a
totally
different
crime.
Furthermore
he
argued
that
the
court
should
take
account
of the
fact
that
you
are
assaulted
by
the
parent
of
the
complainant.
The
state
on
the
other
hand
which
was
represented
by Advocate
Vakele
argued
that
there
was
quitee
a
number
of
aggravating
factors.
The
first
factor
is
the
huge
age
disparity,
which
I
have
already
highlighted
between
yourself
and
the victim
of
rape.
Secondly
he
submitted
that
rape
is
a
serious
offence.
Complainant
according
to
the
J88
sustained
injuries to
her
private
parts.
Thirdly
Mr
Vakele
argued
that
you
abused the
relationship
of
trust
which
existed
between
yourself
and the
complainant,
because
the
complainant
knew
you,
you
lived in
the
same
neighbourhood.
I
think
most
importantly
is
the
submission
made
by
Mr
Vakele
which
arises
from
EXHIBIT
C
which
is
the
probation
officers
report
according
to
which
is
abundantly
clear
that
the
victim
was
traumatised
by
this
rape
incident.
The
crime
indeed
has
had
a
negative
impact
on
her. so
much
so
that
she
still
experiences
nightmares
and
she
is afraid
to
sleep
alone
at
home.
In
my
judgment
there
are
quite
a
number
of
aggravating
factors.
Even
though
I
am
not
satisfied
that
life
imprisonment
would
be
an
appropriate
sentence
in
this
case
Quite
clearly
having
considered
all
sentencing
options
it
is
very
clear
to
me that
a
long
term
imprisonment
sentence
in
called
for.
Accordingly
Mr
Dili
you
are
sentenced
to
18
years
direct
imprisonment.
HLOPHE.
JP