The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court has convicted and sentenced traditional healer, Lesiba Victor Marosa, to life imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl.
Image: File
The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court has sentenced 49-year-old traditional healer Lesiba Victor Marosa to life imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old girl.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Gauteng regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the court further ordered that Marosa’s name be added to the National Register for Sex Offenders and declared him unfit to work with children and to possess a firearm.
The incident occurred on 2 February 2020 when the minor’s mother sent her to Marosa’s residence in Mamelodi to collect medication for abdominal pain.
Mahanjana said Marosa took the child into his consultation room and asked whether the medication he had previously provided was effective. When she replied that it was only slightly helping, he placed herbs on his fingers, undressed her, and inserted his fingers into her vagina, telling her the medication needed to penetrate further into her abdomen to work properly. He then raped her.
The minor pushed him away, got dressed and returned home.
The following morning, she wrote a letter to her mother detailing the incident and placed it in her mother’s bag. While at work, the mother read the letter and informed the minor’s father, who collected the child from school and questioned her. After she confirmed what had happened, her father opened a case with the police. Marosa was arrested the same day.
In court, Marosa pleaded not guilty and denied committing the offence. However, state prosecutor Sfiso Hlongwane presented evidence that proved his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
During sentencing proceedings, Marosa, through his legal representative, requested the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
He argued that he is a first-time offender, has a wife, four children, and two grandchildren who are financially dependent on him, suffers from lung disease contracted in prison, and grew up without a father.
The State opposed the request.
“The prosecutor emphasised the accused’s lack of remorse, his abuse of a position of trust as a traditional healer, and the fact that, as a father of daughters, he should have protected the minor rather than exploiting her vulnerability,” Mahanjana said.
In delivering the sentence, Magistrate Ruby Matlaila agreed with the State.
“The behaviour of the traditional healer shows the court that the lengthy sentences handed down to others for similar offences did not deter him,” she said.
The magistrate rejected the claim that his fatherless upbringing contributed to the crime and described rape as one of the most heinous offences, leaving permanent, invisible scars on victims. She found no substantial and compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
Mahanjana said the NPA reaffirms its unwavering commitment to holding perpetrators of gender-based violence and crimes against children fully accountable and remains steadfast in its pursuit of justice for victims and their families.
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