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A 70-year-old Eastern Cape man has been jailed for 18 years for raping his partner's young daughter.
The National Prosecuting Authority said Sithembiso Ngwanya was sentenced in the Butterworth Regional Court on Wednesday for the crime committed back on 11 December 2017, when the child was nine-years-old.
Spokesperson, Luxulo Tyali, said the mother, who was employed as a domestic worker, had left the child behind in the shack she shared with the suspect.
"Ngwanya, a pensioner who also doubled as a nightshift security guard, returned from work later that morning and found the young victim playing with her peers near their shack. He instructed the girl to get back home and raped her before letting her go back to play with other children," he said.
Tyali said the child reported the incident to her mother and Ngwanya was assaulted by members of the community when he returned home from work the following day.
He said the NPA welcomed the sentence.
