Online Reporter
Zimpapers Reporter
A SOUTH African court has sentenced a 33-year-old man to two life terms for trafficking and repeatedly raping a 12-year-old Zimbabwean girl whom he abducted from Chipinge and smuggled across the border.
David Chauke was sentenced to life imprisonment for trafficking in persons and another life term for rape by the Worcester Regional Court in the Western Cape.
He was also sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for abduction, 15 years for sexual exploitation and a further 12 months for contravening Section 9 of the Immigration Act.
The court ordered that Chauke’s name be entered into South Africa’s National Register for Sex Offenders and National Child Protection Register and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
According to evidence presented during the trial, Chauke, who was 27 when he committed the offences in January 2020, abducted the girl from Chipinge in Manicaland and took her to Brits in South Africa’s North West Province before later moving with her to Nkqubela in Robertson, Western Cape.
He allegedly isolated the child from her family and illegally transported her across the Zimbabwe-South Africa border.
The court heard that Chauke manipulated the girl into believing that he loved her and intended to marry her.
He had also allegedly paid one of the girl’s relatives to facilitate contact with her without her parents’ knowledge.
Once in South Africa, the girl became completely dependent on Chauke for food, accommodation and transport.
He repeatedly raped and sexually exploited her, both before and after taking her into South Africa.
Chauke also instructed the girl to lie about her age, telling her to claim that she was 16 whenever questions were raised about her identity.
His actions eventually attracted the attention of members of the Robertson community, who became concerned about a young girl living with an adult man and being presented as his wife.
Chauke was arrested in November 2020.
Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the State called 10 witnesses during the trial, including the victim.
The girl gave evidence about her ordeal through a Shona-speaking court intermediary.
Other witnesses included police officers, a medical practitioner, a social worker, Department of Home Affairs officials, community members and members of the victim’s family in Zimbabwe.
In aggravation of sentence, regional court prosecutor Elton Willemse told the court that Chauke had deliberately isolated the girl from her parents and support system.
This was despite her mother contacting him and asking him to return her daughter to Zimbabwe.
The State argued that Chauke knowingly exploited the child’s age, vulnerability, language barriers and complete dependence on him for his own sexual gratification.
Willemse said Chauke had robbed the girl of her childhood and subjected her to profound emotional and psychological trauma.
The prosecution further argued that Chauke had shown no remorse or empathy for the harm he had inflicted on the child.
The NPA said the prosecution was the result of collaboration between Willemse and investigating officer Warrant Officer Shane Pamplin of the Hawks, together with other stakeholders.
Welcoming the sentence, advocate Adrian Mopp commended the agencies involved in investigating and prosecuting the case, as well as those involved in protecting the victim.
He said the Western Cape’s response to human trafficking involved several structures, including the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Provincial Task Team, Anti-Trafficking Rapid Response Task Team and local multidisciplinary teams comprising the criminal justice system, government departments and civil society.
Mopp said collaboration between the structures was crucial in preventing trafficking, identifying cases, protecting victims and securing convictions.
The NPA said the conviction and sentences demonstrated the justice system’s commitment to holding perpetrators of human trafficking, child exploitation and sexual offences accountable.
