Du Noon man sentenced to life imprisonment for grooming and rape of a minor, Cape Town Regional Court

Du Noon man sentenced to life imprisonment for grooming and rape of a minor, Cape Town Regional Court 

The Cape Town Regional Court has sentenced a 69-year-old Du Noon man today to life imprisonment following his conviction for sexual grooming and repeated rapes of a minor over nine years. The accused was sentenced to six years direct imprisonment for sexual grooming and life imprisonment for the rape. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently effectively sentencing him to life imprisonment. The court further ordered that his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders, the National Child Protection Register as it found him unsuitable to work with children and that he was unfit to possess a firearm. It further made a search and seizure order of any firearms and ammunition he may have in his house.

The state does not name the accused as his partner was the nanny of the victim which may indirectly name the victim and expose her to secondary victimisation. This is the fifth case and sentencing of men convicted for committing sexual crimes against children in October alone. It is the third life imprisonment imposed by courts for such crimes and a second life imprisonment imposed by the Cape Town Regional Court in less than a week. In the same month, there were two femicide cases finalised where the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment and 23 years of direct imprisonment.

Sexual offences prosecutor Ruwayda Badrudeen told the court that from 2012 until 2014, the accused’s partner was the victim’s nanny.  The child victim would at times sleep over at the accused and his partner’s place. The accused was also close to the family of the victim and a fellow church member. The rape incidents started when she was 5 years old and continued until she was 12 years old. He would groom the child victim by giving her money for school, giving her food, buying her data, and allowing her to watch DSTV. While she was watching television, he would abuse her sexually. Badrudeen told the court that the accused was not a first offender, as he was convicted and sentenced to five years direct imprisonment wholly suspended five years for a sexual assault committed in March 2016. He continued with the rapes, until his arrest for this case in 2020.

A Victim Impact Statement compiled by Court Preparation Officer, Babalwa Hlatana indicates that the victim suffered from a loss of self-confidence, feared the accused as he had a short temper, was popular, had money and was concerned that community members would not believe her if she reported the rapes. She said she used to watch a tv programme on virginity but after her rapes, she hated herself and her body as she felt she was no longer like the girls who were shown on the tv show. She felt his abuse as he initially acted like a parent but was abusing her. She said the only thing that helped her to move forward was because she didn’t hold any grudges against him. She wanted to find peace. The victim was raised by her aunt, and she is still staying with her unemployed aunt and siblings. Their situation at home is dire to the extent that Cape Town Magistrates’ Court staff members bought her school uniform, stationery, and school bag as she showed keen interest to continue with her studies.

Sentencing the accused, magistrate Graf said it was regrettable that the suspended prison term that was imposed in 2016, did not serve to deter the accused from re-offending. The mitigating factors are far outweighed by the aggravating factors. There were no compelling or substantial circumstances that justify deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence in respect of the rape. It simply cannot be said that the prescribed sentence of life imprisonment will be disproportionate to the crime or that an injustice will be done by imposing the sentence.

Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, Advocate Nicolette Bell welcomed the sentence and the effort put in by law enforcement and prosecution teams in reducing the scourge of heinous crimes committed against the most vulnerable in our society, the children.

 Issued by,

Eric Ntabazalila

Regional Communications Manager

Western Cape

Tel: 021 487 7308

Mobile: 073 062 1222

Email: entabazalila@npa.gov.za