‘TEENAGER WAS MY GIRLFRIEND’

Man denies all 12 rape charges

A KWAZULU-NATAL rape accused told the court yesterday that he had sex with a 15-year-old girl, but insisted she was his girlfriend.

Khanyisani Ngobese, 29, was testifying in the Durban High Court. He has been charged with 12 counts of rape following his alleged raping spree which started in 2011.

Yesterday he admitted that he slept with the teenager, who was a virgin at the time. “I did have sexual intercourse with her but it was consensual. She told me that she wanted to show me how much she loved me,” Ngobese said.

Asked by Judge Kate Pillay why he had sex with the girl in the bush instead of his home, Ngobese replied: “According to our culture and laws of the land where I come from, we are not allowed to sleep together until I have paid lobola.

“She also advised me that we had to go deep into the bush because she didn’t want people to see her as it was known in the area that she was undergoing virginity testing.”

He told the court that he had met the teenager to tell her about lobola negotiations he was planning to start with her parents.

“I wanted her to tell her parents to expect my uncles. She then agreed to have sex with me, I didn’t force her,” Ngobese said.

But according to the state, the girl was on her way to school in May 2011 when she was apparently forced into the bush by Ngobese at knife-point and raped.

Ngobese allegedly began his raping spree in Mandeni in March 2011 when he pounced on another Grade 6 pupil. He allegedly abducted her, kept her hostage and raped her multiple times.

The 13-year-old was on her way home from school in the company of her friend.

In May of the same year, Ngobese allegedly raped a 19-year-old college student who was on her way to Umfolozi TVET College, Mandeni campus. The student was three months pregnant when the rape allegedly took place.

Eight of Ngobese’s alleged offences were committed in Durban, where he tricked his victims by telling them he was an agent