Man gets life for raping child
Koster – The Koster Regional Court has sentenced 45-year-old Alfred Ntante Bendile to life imprisonment for raping a 9-year-old girl, bringing long-awaited justice to the victim and her family. The sentence was handed down on Tuesday, 16 September 2025.
The horrific crime dates back to May 2019, when Bendile lured the child away from a football match in Reagile. Once at his home, he sent her friends away, tied her up, gagged her, and raped her. Her brave friends raised the alarm, and when her father arrived and knocked on the door, the girl managed to escape from a wardrobe half-naked. Bendile was arrested immediately and denied bail.
In court, he pleaded guilty, but prosecutor Sangweni Zimema stressed his lack of remorse and the seriousness of the offence. Magistrate Paul Moeng described the act as carefully planned, with devastating effects on the victim, and imposed the maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The court also declared Bendile unfit to work with children and ordered his name be placed on the National Register for Sex Offenders.
Welcoming the outcome, the NPA’s director of Public Prosecutions in the North West, Dr Rachel Makhari, praised the work of the prosecution team and reaffirmed the authority’s commitment to tackling gender-based violence.
