Celeste Gouws’ rapist has finally been found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in jail after a gruelling trial lasting nearly five years.
Andile Memese appeared in the KwaNojoli Magistrates Court in Somerset West last Thursday, where judgment was handed down, sentence arguments were heard, and a prison term was imposed in prolonged proceedings that lasted until 7pm.
Memese was found guilty of rape and housebreaking.
Gouws and her friends, who have been by her side since the rape in 2017, were overcome with emotion as Magistrate Eric Mbiyo made the order and brought an end to a trial that started on 13 July 2021.
Judgement
Mbiyo found that Memese’s conduct was calculated to take advantage of an intoxicated woman, and vindicated Gouws, who had been branded a liar by the accused and defence.
The court found her to be a satisfactory witness and found her evidence to be truthful about what happened that night.
“Even if the victim has taken alcohol, this does not make a license for any man to take them cheaply and abuse them because of their vulnerable state. It is also clear from the evidence that this rape was pre-planned, I would say pre-planned up to the last minute,” said Mbiyo.
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Rape
Gouws was raped at her home on 2 September 2017.
On that night, Memese was drinking with Gouws and her friend until she was severely intoxicated.
Earlier in the evening, she had called her friend to the house because she suspected Memese was making unwanted sexual advances.
The friend put Gouws to bed and left the property with Memese, but the rapist returned a short while later to sexually assault Gouws.
Sentencing
During sentencing arguments, Advocate Gerrie Nel described rape as humiliating, degrading, and brutal.
“It was well planned from the early evening to late evening until he got the gratification that he wanted. That’s what he wanted – gratification. He raped a woman for his own gratification.”
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Trial history
The case has a lengthy and protracted history. Memese was prosecuted privately by AfriForum after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Eastern Cape refused to prosecute him.
Although judgment was initially set for November 2024, it was postponed several times. During that period, including Memese firing his previous legal team.
AfriForum Private Prosecutions spokesperson Barry Bateman said the case is proof of the unit’s effectiveness at addressing failures in the criminal justice system.
“This is a significant victory not only for AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, but also for vulnerable victims of rape who have been failed by the state. This entire process demonstrates the secondary trauma that victims of crime must endure.”
Costs
Bateman believes that both the police and the NPA failed Celeste.
“When deciding not to prosecute the case, a prosecutor callously remarked that Memese saw an opportunity, an intoxicated woman, and took advantage. Without private prosecution, this rapist would have gone free.”
Bateman said the unit plans to request a costs order against the NPA for the lengthy trial and prosecution of Memese.
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