CAPE TOWN – The Western Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile applauds the Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units in the province who work tirelessly in ensuring that rapists and sexual offenders are brought to book.

On Wednesday, 14 September 2022, Tulbagh Regional court handed life sentences to Raydon Fortuin and Eben Fortuin. The pair raped a 17-year-old male victim in May 2020. He was walking home from a friend’s house in Klein Begin informal settlement when the two suspects cornered him. They held a knife to his throat and took turns raping him. After committing the crime, they fled and he managed to get home and reported the incident to his guardian. A case of rape was registered and Ceres Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit members accompanied the victim to a medical institution for medical assistance. Two days later, the suspects were arrested and charged. Both perpetrators were sentenced to life imprisonment, following sterling investigation by the detectives.

In an unrelated incident, Vredenburg Regional court sentenced Andries Andrews to 20 years in prison for rape and for making a child pornography video. The 22-year-old male was arrested in June 2021 after a pornographic video of a 7-year-old boy surfaced. The Vredenburg Family Violence Child Protectionand Sexual Offences Unit obtained statements from the victim with the assistance of a forensic social worker and it was revealed that the incident happened more than once. On 01 September 2022, the suspect was convicted of rape and making of child pornography. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison on both counts.

Source: South African Police Service