MAN FOUND GUILTY OF RAPE OF A MINOR AND HOUSEBREAKING
05 SEPTEMBER 2025
MAN FOUND GUILTY OF RAPE OF A MINOR AND HOUSEBREAKING
The Pretoria North Magistrates Court found Prayer Kgatle (30) guilty of rape of a 11-year-old girl, housebreaking with the intent to rape, sexual assault, robbery and theft.
On 18 October 2023, Kgatle entered an apartment complex in Annlin, saw an apartment with an open bedroom window, entered through the window, stole a bag from the bed, and exited through the same window. He then went to another apartment in the complex, and after realising that the door was faulty, he entered the apartment. The minor child inside the apartment heard a sound, and when she went to check, she saw Kgatle, who then instructed her to go into the bathroom. When they were both in the bathroom, Kgatle undressed the minor child, sexually assaulted and raped her. Thereafter, the child managed to distract Kgatle and ran to the nearest apartment in the complex, where she found a lady whom she then asked to call her mother. After Kgatle realised that the minor child had run, Kgatle left the apartment and, as he was trying to exit the apartment complex, one of the male residents in the apartment complex, who did not recognise Kgatle, began to chase him, apprehended him, called the police, and Kgatle was arrested on the scene.
In court, Kgatle pleaded guilty to the charge of theft, saying that he stole the bag on top of the bed because he wanted the clothes inside the bag for himself. However, he pleaded not guilty to the rest of the charges and denied raping the child. Instead, he told the court that the child was trained to say she was raped. State prosecutor Hanlie Du Preez presented compelling evidence, through testimony of two complainants, corroborating reports and the 11-year-old minor who testified through the services of an intermediary.
When handing down judgment, Magistrate Piet Nel found the testimony of the child and other complainants in the matter to be reliable and found Kgatles' version not to be reliable since he contradicted himself during his testimony. Therefore, the magistrates found that the state was able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomes the conviction and hopes that this sends a message to society to speak out and report Gender Based Violence (GBV) matters. All cases of sexual violence encroach on the rights to dignity and privacy of the victims as enshrined in our constitution, hence the NPA aggressively prosecutes these cases.
In court, the case was postponed to 20 October 2025, for sentence proceedings.
Issued by:
Lumka Mahanjana
NPA Regional Spokesperson
Gauteng Division: Pretoria
073 002 0000