Soccer coach jailed for sexual assault
A Gqeberha soccer coach has been sentenced to five years in jail for sexually assaulting some of the boys he coached between 2017 and 2018.
The city’s regional court found Sizwe “Lali” Mphini, 28, guilty on four counts of sexual assault.
It was found that Mphini had scouted young boys while playing soccer in an open field in Gqeberha in 2016 and offered to be their coach.
As a motivation, he even offered to buy them soccer jerseys.
The children were excited and agreed to his proposal.
The team was named Mighty Eagles, National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani said. In court, the children testified that Mphini never bought them soccer jerseys and had instead fondled their private parts.
According to them, during practices he would call the boys one by one and would play with their private parts.
Mphini would also invite the boys to his house to eat food and watch cartoons.
He would call them one after the other to his bedroom.
He would instruct them not to disclose the sexual assault to anyone.
They said that at first they were too afraid to tell their parents.
The boys said there were more victims too afraid to come forward.
Rumours about Mphini’s wrongdoing spread in the community and he was finally exposed when one parent who went looking for her son found him at Mphini’s house with other young boys.
She took her 10-year-old son home and when she questioned him, he disclosed the sexual assaults on him and his friends.
A community meeting was held and when other boys came forward the community opened a case at the Walmer police station.
The youngest of his victims was just eight years old, while the oldest was 14.
Mphini was found guilty on four counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for each count.
The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, meaning that he will serve five years’ direct imprisonment.