An unemployed South African Ayanda Skhakhane who ran parallel relationships with his girlfriend, Silindile, and her two teenage daughters, will be sentenced for raping the girls on 10 counts by the Johannesburg High Court on February 3.
To make up for Akhakhane’s poverty, Silindile (not real name) worked long hours to provide for her family of four, leaving early in the morning and returning in the evening. She also worked over weekends.
But Akhakhane dreamed up a wicked thanksgiving: Unknown to her, as soon as she would leave for work, Skhakhane would jump on Silindile’s girls, who were aged 12 and 10 in 2012, and defile them.
He would start raping the eldest daughter when she returned from school, Skhakhane would call her into the bedroom, play the radio and TV loudly, then violate her.
In the evening, he would have sex with Silindile and when she dozed off, he would go to the children’s room and start raping the girl again.
It is believed that he also drugged her before raping her.
Silindile had moved in with Skhakhane at Mshayazafe Hostel in Thokoza, at the end of 2011.
A few months later, in March 2012, Skhakhane started raping Silindile’s oldest daughter who was 12 at the time.
Skhakhane raped the 10-year-old on one occasion.
To cover his tracks Skhakhane started becoming overprotective about his girlfriend’s daughters, banning them from playing with other children and locking them in the house, their mother began to worry.
Being often at work Silindile thought her boyfriend loved the children so much, that he was trying to shield them from harm because they lived in a hostel.
Skhakhane would also lock the children’s bedroom using a padlock and chain at night, saying he did not want people breaking in and raping them.
However, Silindile did not know the real reason her boyfriend did not want the girls interacting with other children – he did not want anyone finding out that he was preying on them, raping them when their mother was at work or sleeping after coming home exhausted.
“If I could, I would kill him,” the 31-year-old woman said last Wednesday in the Joburg High Court sitting in Palm Ridge, where the rapist was to be sentenced on 10 counts.
Silindile said she felt only disgust towards him.
Some of the people at the hostel were aware of what was going on, but did not know how to alert Silindile to what was happening.
They did not inform the police either.
But late October 2014, another resident became aware that Skhakhane was once again raping the children. He made an anonymous call to the police, leading to Skhakhane’s arrested.
Silindile said that while her youngest was fine, the eldest, who was raped repeatedly, had been “damaged” by Skhakhane.
“It is as if she blames me for what happened. She has dropped out of school and is now promiscuous. Ayanda damaged her, because she now thinks sex is okay. He needs to get a life sentence,” she prayed.
Skhakhane was due to be sentenced last Wednesday, but the matter was postponed to February 3 for a pre-sentencing report to be submitted to court.