Man faces 26 counts of rape

2003-11-03 16:49

Polokwane - A 38-year-old man appeared in the Mankweng Sexual Offences Court on Monday at the start of his trial on counts of raping 25 children aged from five to 12 in Limpopo, police said.

Captain Moatshe Ngoepe said Sunday Malatji pleaded not guilty to raping the children at Phoponame village in Bolobedu near Tzaneen during 2001 and up to November 2002 when he was arrested.

He faces 26 counts of child rape since one of the girls had allegedly been raped twice.

Ngoepe said a doctor gave evidence confirming the rapes and three of the children were also called as witnesses.

The trial continues on Tuesday and is expected to last until Friday.

Malatji first appeared in court at Tzaneen but the case was transferred to the recently instituted court for sexual offences at Mankweng outside Polokwane.

At his first appearance in Mankweng on June 30 Malatji refused to be represented by a legal aid lawyer and told the court he wanted to conduct his own defence.

At his next appearance on July 2 he said he had changed his mind and wanted to hire a private lawyer so the case was postponed for the second time to give him time to find a lawyer.

- SAPA