Gauteng School Teacher, 50, Gets Stiff Life Terms for Raping Girl, 13, in Ekurhuleni

• The Tembisa Magistrate's Court sentenced a Gauteng school teacher to five life terms for raping a Grade 7 pupil
• The court heard that Bethuel Lesetja Makgetha, 50, raped the pupil on multiple occasions in October 2019
• A former creative arts teacher at an Eastrand school, Makgetha, 50, was sentenced on Friday, 6 September

TEMBISA — A teacher with a nefarious agenda received the maximum sentence the Tembisa Magistrate's Court could impose for violating a Grade 7 learner.

Bethuel Lesetja Makgetha was convicted of raping the 13-year-old Eastrand pupil multiple times in October 2019 and sentenced to five life terms.

Teacher gets stiff life terms for rape

The court passed the 50-year-old's sentence on Friday, 6 September.

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The court heard how the ex-creative arts teacher coerced the pupil to stay behind after school and threatened to fail her if she reported the assaults.

Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the pupil's mother had been under the impression Makgetha was providing her daughter additional support.

"However, when the mother noticed changes in her daughter's body, she confronted her. The child [detailed what had happened to her], leading to the teacher's arrest," said Mjonondwane.

She welcomed the sentences, saying they testified to how seriously the justice system took and dealt with gender-based violence (GBV) cases.

"It is the culmination of years of painstaking work to investigate and prosecute the case," said Mjonondwane.

Qonce man gets 11 years in jail for minor's rape

In a related story, Briefly News reported that the Zwelitsha Regional Court convicted a man for the rape of a now-41-year-old woman as a minor in the Eastern Cape in 1997.

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Xolani Qanqane, 58, received 11 years imprisonment on Wednesday, 17 July, for perpetrating the rape of a 14-year-old girl 27 years ago.

The court heard how Qanqane worked as an independent photographer in and around Qonce. During a visit to a shopping centre in Qonce, the woman, now a social worker, and her cousin approached him for a photograph of them.

Source: Briefly News