INITIATION SCHOOL OWNERS SENTENCED
NELSPRUIT – Friday 02
October 2015, the Circuit of the Pretoria High Court in Nelspruit has imposed
an unsympathetic sentence to a 51-year-old former initiation school owner,
Johan Jabulani Mlombo, after being found guilty on 17 counts of rape and three
counts of sexual assault. The accused’s wife, Sister Mapalese Khoza aged 43,
who was standing accused with him, received a suspended sentence on charges of
assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) and assault common.
The high court heard that the couple
enrolled 21 girls aged between nine and 17 during winter in 2012 at their
initiation school in Masoyi near Hazyview. Mlombo raped and sexually assaulted
the initiates on the 29th of August 2012. The court further
heard that his wife, Khoza, was aware of the incidents and that she even aided
Mlombo to commit his evil acts on the girls by ushering them to the room
occupied by Mlombo. It was also uncovered that Khoza has physically assaulted
some of the girls during the initiation period.
The high court did not hesitate to
sentence Mlombo to 17 life sentences for the rape charges and a total of 15
years for the three counts sexual assaults. Khoza was sentenced to 18 months
imprisonment for assault GBH and six months for assault common. Both her
sentences were suspended for three years.
The Management of Police in Mpumalanga
welcomes the sentences and believes that evidence presented assisted the court
to arrive at this conclusion. They also believe that these sentences will serve
as a deterrent to other potential criminals.
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