The state says their decision to call the girl who was raped at a Dros Restaurant in Pretoria when she was seven years old, to testify, was the right call to make as the judge rejected Nicholas Ninow’s version that he acted impulsively.
Ninow has also been found guilty of being in possession of drugs, defeating the ends of justice but not guilty of assault.
NPA spokesperson, Phindi Louw-Mjonondwane says, “We are satisfied with the court’s decision to accept the state witnesses’ testimony, especially the version of the minor into how the sequence happened.”
Judge Mokhine Mosopa accepted the version of the girl, now eight-years-old.
She told the court she was in the toilet cubicle when Ninow entered and raped her.
Ninow, who confessed to the rape, said in his plea explanation he was in the toilet cubicle first.
Mosopa found that Ninow saw the girl in the children’s play area and followed her to the toilet.
Louw-Mjonondwane says, “That is what we wanted and it was our goal to place the court in a better position to make an informed decision. We are, therefore, satisfied with our decision to call the minor. It was a reasonable thing to do and the court adjudicated as such.”
Ninow’s grandmother, Pauline Gericke, was among those who attended judgment proceedings in his rape case in the High Court in Pretoria. She listened attentively as members of the African National Congress (ANC) Women’s League called her grandson names.
Gericke has been attending the trial since it started. On Monday, a woman dressed in an ANC shirt sat next to her. Dlozi Nkosi, who is also an ANC Women’s League member, says she is supporting Gericke because she is also a mother.
“I’m here as a mother. I feel pain because she didn’t tell the son he must rape. We don’t send these children (that) they must do like this; they must do the drugs; they must use everything.”
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