By BAKANG MOKOTO
19 February 2025- A man (27) sentenced to two life sentence terms and 44 years for rape by the Northern Cape High Court sitting in Kimberley for rape. Itumeleng Reclin Machabe, who is also known as Bendow, was convicted for raping and killing Relebogile Segami (11), raping two other minors and distributed pornographic images of young people.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson in Northern Cape, Mojalefa Senokoatsane said the accused raped a girl (13), committed fraud, contravened Section 19 (a) of Act 32 of 2007 (exposing or displaying of child pornography or pornography to a child) and committed crimen injuria. Senokotsoane said Machabe also committed attempted extortion and raped a girl (15).
“He was charged for attempted murder too. On 30 March 2022, Relebogile Segami was reported missing by her family and the police, together with members of the Galeshewe Community, began searching for the young girl.
“Unfortunately, her body was discovered on 31 March 2022, near the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature in Kimberley. During investigations, the police discovered that Machabe was the last person seen with the victim before her disappearance,” he said.
Senokotsoane further said the police promptly managed to arrest Machabe and he made his first court appearance on 4 April 2022. He added that the accused pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
“When the accused applied for bail in the Galeshewe District Court, the court heard that the accused was facing another charge of rape and that he was out of bail on that matter.
“The prosecution’s successfully opposed bail application against the accused in this Schedule 6 matter, given the seriousness of the charges against him,” said Senokotsoane.
He said during the police investigations into the accused, other victims of the accused came forward to open cases against him. Senokotsoane said the investigations established that the accused’s path of terror began as early as 2013 when the victim (13), and the accused a minor himself, alleged that the accused had raped her.
“A case docket was then registered and later withdrawn by the family after dragging for some time. The main reason being that the ongoing case was affecting the victim horribly and she could not cope with her school work and resulted in her failing twice in the two years during the case in court.
“Upon Machebe’s arrest in 2022, the victim gathered some strength to testify against the accused this time around, even though the crime dates back over 10 years and during the emotionally charged trial in the High Court,” he said.
Senokotsoane said during the trial, the prosecution, represented by state advocate Elmari Kruger, put it to the court that the accused had intentionally targeted minors, whom he knew were vulnerable, young, innocent and naïve. He said Machabe was not remorseful for all the heinous crimes he had committed against minors and how he had destroyed the lives of not only the victims, but their families as well.
“The court, through testimonies of the victims and witnesses, heard how the accused had lured victims and how he had utilised social media platforms to use the victims’ compromising photos and published them on his platforms after requesting the nude photos.
“The court also heard how the accused had raped one of his victims, who was a minor at the time multiple times. The accused had intentionally molested the minor, wanting her to perform unspeakable acts on him as well,” said Senokotsoane.
He said the victim told the court that the accused intimidated her by telling her that he was going to throw her in a dam should she scream. Senokotsoane said although there was little substantial evidence as the swabs taken on victims, including the deceased body of one victim and the clothing that was found around her neck, showed insufficient male DNA, the forensic report explained this may have been caused by many factors such as weak sperm count, the male being asospermic, does not have a nucleus in his sperm cell.
“The male could have ejaculated outside of the body, he may have used a condom, may have cleaned the victim, or the victim may have cleaned herself and does not necessarily exempt one from a crime.
“The state mainly relied on circumstantial evidence and urged the court to take note of the discrepancies and improbabilities in Machebe’s version of events,” he said.
Senokotsoane said the NPA envisages that the sentencing of Machabe will not only give the victims hope, closure and a sense of freedom but also send a harsh message to criminals of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBV&F) related matters in that the prosecution working with law-enforcement partners will act harshly in investigating and prosecuting these crimes and they shall face the full might of the law should they be found guilty of such criminal conduct.
Meanwhile, in aggravation, the prosecution argued that it is a known fact that South Africa faces insuperable levels of violent crime, particularly targeting vulnerable groups, which include women and children. The state further argued that there were no substantial and compelling factors that could make the court deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life when it comes to crimes of this nature.
In sentencing, the court found the accused guilty on all counts except for count 17 (attempted murder) due to a lack of evidence. The court sentenced the accused to life terms and 44 years imprisonment.
The court also ordered that the name of the accused be registered in the National Register of Sex Offenders. The accused was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The accused was sentenced on the day Segami was to celebrate her 14 years birthday.
The Guardian 