Phethe Simiao, 25, who murdered six-year-old Amantle Samane in Soweto a year ago, has been served with an effective sentence of life imprisonment at the Johannesburg high court.
To clapping and shouts of relief from the public gallery, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, another life term for rape of a minor and two years each for kidnapping and for being an illegal immigrant in South Africa. The sentences will run concurrently.
The self-employed welder is married and has a child who is one year and three months old. He did not have a previous criminal record. He is a Mozambican by nationality.
Judge William Karam slated him for attacking a child, “the most innocent and vulnerable person in society”, and declared he is clearly a danger to society.
Of Amantle, he said, “One can only imagine her confusion, her terror and her pain. Our society is sick and tired of this violence towards women and children that has engulfed our country, and the alarming frequency of rape of children.”
In her victim impact statement to court, on the date that would have marked Amantle’s seventh birthday, her mother Ntombizodwa Samane spoke of the ongoing trauma from the death of her youngest child. She had stopped taking her four surviving children to church and struggled to pray. She asked the court to sentence him to life in jail.
Simiao pleaded guilty last month. In his confession, he said he strangled the child to conceal the rape. He claimed to be remorseful.
The judge said Simiao’s failure to testify left many unanswered questions. He quoted case law to say a plea of guilty in an open-and-shut case made it a neutral factor. There was also a chasm between regret and remorse — asking if he was merely sorry to have been caught. He ruled Simiao had failed to demonstrate genuine remorse.
TimesLIVE
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