Crèche cook sentenced to 20 years for rape of three-year-old pupil

2026-03-19 - 13:00

A former crèche employee has been sentenced to 20 years’ direct imprisonment for the rape of a three-year-old girl. Vuyisane Makeleni, 24, was handed down the sentence by the Bloemfontein Sexual Offences Court in the Free State. The court also ordered that his name be included in the National Register for Sex Offenders. Makeleni rapes toddler in toilet At the time of the incident in 2024, Makeleni was employed as a cook and also worked odd jobs at the crèche. According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Mojalefa Senokoatsane, Makeleni had accompanied the little girl to the toilet while at work on 9 May. Once there, he raped the toddler and threatened her, telling her not to disclose to anyone what had happened. “Later that evening, whilst at home, the victim complained about pain to her mother,” Senokoatsane said. “Her mother started questioning her, and the victim told her mother what had happened earlier in the day.” The child was taken for medical examination, where they discovered that she had genital injuries. Senokoatsane said police started investigations as soon as they were informed about the rape. During the investigations, police discovered that the crèche was not registered and was immediately closed. “The accused was then arrested and charged with rape of a minor,” the spokesperson said. A breach of trust He said in aggravation of sentence, state advocate Ronel Botha submitted that the court should impose a sentence proportionate to the seriousness of Makeleni’s offence. Botha emphasised that the accused had breached the trust placed in him by both the child and the parents in a horrific way. She further argued that the accused posed a serious danger to society and that a custodial sentence was necessary to remove him from the community and to protect vulnerable children from further harm. Securing the conviction, the NPA said it “remained resolute in its commitment to combat the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide, with particular focus on the protection of children, who are among the most vulnerable in our society”. Crimes against children, Senokoatsane said, are not only detestable but strike at the very core of our constitutional values and collective humanity.