A 27-year-old man, Itumeleng Reclin Machabe, aka Bendow (27), has been sentenced to two life terms and 44 years of imprisonment by the High Court of South Africa, Northern Cape Division sitting in Kimberley, for the r@pe and murder of 11-year-old Relebogile Segami, r@ping two other minors and distribution of p0rnographic images of young people.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in a statement on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, said the accused was charged with Count 1: R@pe 13 yr female, Count 2: Fraud; Count 3 – 7: Contravention of Section 19(a) of Act 32 of 2007 (exposing or displaying of child p0rnography or p0rnography to a child); Count 8: Crimen Injuria; Count 9: Fraud; Count 10: Crimen Injuria; Count 11: Fraud; Count 12: Contravention of Section 19(a) of Act 32 of 2007 (exposing or displaying of child p0rnography or p0rnography to a child); Count 13: Attempted Extortion; Count 14 – 16: R@pe 15-year-old female; Count 17: Attempted Murder; Count 18: R@pe 11- year- old female; Count 19: Murder 11- year- old female.
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 Legislature in Kimberley.
During investigations, the police discovered that Machabe was the last person seen with the victim before her disappearance. The Police promptly managed to arrest Itumeleng Machabe, and he made his first court appearance on 04 April 2022.
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 r@pe of a 15-year-old and that he was out of bail on that matter.
The prosecutions successfully opposed bail application against the accused in this schedule 6 matter, given the seriousness of the charges against him.
During the police investigations into the accused, other victims of the accused came forward to open cases against him. The investigations established that the accused path of terror began as early as 2013,
Upon Machebe’s arrest in 2022, a victim gathered some strength to testify against the accused this time around, even though the crime dates back over 10 years.
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. That the accused 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 n*de photos.
The court also heard how the accused had r@ped one of his victims, who was a minor at the time multiple times. That the accused had intentionally molested the minor, wanting her to perform unspeakable acts on him as well.
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.
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 and the Forensic Report explained this may have been caused by many factors such as weak sp3rm count, the male being asospermic, does not have a nucleus in his sp3rm cell, the male could have ej@culated outside of the body, he may have used a c0ndom, may have cleaned the victim, or 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.
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 2 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 Relebogile Segami was to celebrate her 14 years birthday.
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