Durban - An Eastern Cape man who assaulted and raped two women during his teenage years was sentenced this week by the Gqeberha Regional Court to life in prison plus 16 years for rape, kidnapping and assault.
According to SAPS spokesperson in the Eastern Cape Colonel Priscilla Naidu, 22-year-old Renaldo Boesak was sentenced on Monday to life in prison for rape, 10 years for kidnapping and six years for assault.
The charges emanate from an incident that took place on July 9, 2018. Boesak was 18 at the time.
Naidu said that Boesak was drinking with two young women and friends at a house in Booysens Park in the Bethelsdorp area.
At about 4am the next morning, Boesak took the two women to a caravan parked in the same yard they were drinking in.
“He threatened them with a firearm and was accused of also firing shots in the yard. Both women were raped. The 22-year-old victim was also assaulted with the firearm,” Naidu said.
She said the two victims reported the incident later that same day.
Four days after he brutally attacked the two women, Boesak was arrested by Detective Sergeant Nomfundiso Vazi from the FCS unit in Gqeberha on July 13, 2018.
He stayed in custody until his sentencing on Monday.
“On 25 April 2022, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on both rape charges, 10 years for two charges of kidnapping and six months for assault. The kidnapping and the assault convictions will run concurrent with the life sentence,” Naidu confirmed.
Acting Nelson Mandela Bay District Commissioner Brigadier Thandiswa Kupiso shared concern for how women are often attacked by people they trust.
This was also accurate when taking the police crime statistics into account, which suggest most women are assaulted or raped by someone they know at a premises they are familiar with.
“Violence and the abuse of women must be exposed and victims are encouraged to blow the whistle on perpetrators in order to restore dignity to themselves and to protect other women against abuse.
“I commend the sterling work of the FCS units who are ensuring that gender-based violence cases are thoroughly investigated and perpetrators arrested and sentenced,” Kupiso said.
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