Man jailed for life for raping his 10-year-old niece

A CONVICTED felon who raped his 10-year-old niece while she was sleeping has been jailed for life.

The 37-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his niece, was sentenced in the Verulam Regional Court this week.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Natasha Kara, said the victim was raped in May 2019 in the Cornubia area.

According to Kara, the man had been living with the victim and her family after his release from prison.

He had been serving a sentence for housebreaking and theft.

“On the night of the incident, the accused returned home after a night of drinking with friends. He found the child’s father sleeping downstairs. He then went upstairs to fetch his bedding and that is when he raped the child. He immediately left the house.

“The child then woke her sister who was sleeping next to her and she told her what had happened. The sister told her to go back to sleep.”

Kara said after reporting the incident to their grandmother the next morning, the victim was taken for trauma counselling.

“The uncle did not return home and went to the police to seek refuge when he heard that the angry community was looking for him. The police arrested him, realising that he was a suspect.”

In a victim impact statement, the victim spoke about how the incident affected her. “After the incident, I had to move to a new area, leaving my school and friends behind. I am struggling to cope. Also, some people have said that I am bewitched and dirty after this incident.”

THOSE in defence of disgraced investigative journalist Jacques Pauw’s lies published by the Daily Maverick would want the public to believe that his latest scandal reflects the state of the media in the country.

That couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s rather unfair for South African media to be painted with the same brush as the Daily Maverick and Pauw.

The former used his position as an investigative journalist and proximity to the publication to fight his personal battles when he had found himself in trouble.

In his “opinion” for the Daily Maverick, he detailed a “scathing account” of how he had been “pounced” on by police after eating at a V&A Waterfront restaurant on February 6, also alleging officers had stolen R1 000 from him.

After the author of the President's Keepers: Those Keeping Zuma In Power And Out Of Prison, was caught with his pants down, he issued what many have described as a hollow apology.

It reads in part: “I wish to correct the mistakes I made in a Daily Maverick column. I was stunned and dazed when pounced on by police, arrested, jailed and charged with theft.

“I wrote the column because I was emotional, angry, and humiliated by the entire experience. Upon reflection and additional evidence provided to me, I have realised that there are errors in the column. I now wish to set the record straight. I had too much to drink in the restaurant and my memory was blurred.”

What Pauw conveniently fails to say is that he lied. Instead he makes mention of “errors and mistakes”.

There are more questions than answers about this saga.

No one puts it better than journalist Unathi Kondile in his opinion piece to this publication.

“Now we question the credibility of the Daily Maverick’s content. How many more liars slip through its editorial stratum masquerading as opinionistas and newshounds?

“In journalism, we are often taught that you are only as good as your last story. Is this how Jacques Pauw will be remembered?"

As the adage goes, “lies have short legs”.

Pauw and the Daily Maverick made their bed and now they must lie in it.

Our media industry shouldn’t be made a scapegoat to defend lies. Ours is to serve the public, not ourselves. So many paid with their lives for this right.