‘I Hope My Story Can Help Another Child’ – Woman Who Was Raped When She Was Just 14 Speaks Out As She Gets Justice 27 Years Later
A 41-year-old South African woman who was raped in 1997, is motivating rape victims telling them to open cases against their abusers regardless of when the crime occurred.
Siphokazi Nonjobe only opened a case in 2021 and finally got justice when her rapist was sentenced in June 2024, 27 years after the sad incident.
Nonjobe who was only 14 years old when Xolani Qanqane raped her, said as long as the perpetrator is still alive, victims must pursue justice to make sure their abusers answer for what they did.
The media is not allowed to identify sexual violence victims, however, Nonjobe waived her right to anonymity. She said in an interview on Tuesday, July 23:
“If my story can help another child who also experienced the same thing, then let’s give it a face so that they become courageous and open cases.”
At the time that Qanqane raped Nonjobe, he was a photographer at a mall in Qonce, Eastern Cape. The rape, Nonjobe said, had left her broken.
“I used to fantasise about getting a gun and shooting him or hiring people to beat him up,” she said.
She never told anyone about it until 2004 when she was at university. She opened up to her boyfriend and he gave her his full support. She recalled:
“I used to freeze during intimacy and decided it was time to come clean to my boyfriend because he loved me enough for me to open up to him. I told him everything and he was very supportive and comforting.”
The two later broke up as the boyfriend moved to Gauteng while Nonjobe remained in the Eastern Cape and later pursued her Master’s degree.
Then one day in May 2021, Nonjobe was shopping when she saw a man wearing a cowboy hat that looked like the one her rapist used to wear.
The hat triggered the memory of her being raped 24 years earlier. She went to the police station immediately and opened a case.
According to Nonjobe, the policewoman assisting her did not even flinch when she told her that the rape happened in 1997. She told her that she had a right to open a case and gave her a document to write her statement.
As soon as she had that pen in her hand, everything came pouring out and by the time she was done, she had written an 11-page statement. Investigations then started.
The fact that Qanqane had been a well-known photographer who later became a taxi driver helped the police to start somewhere.
They later traced him to prison. When they got there they were informed that Qanqane had been released the previous day after serving 10 years for murder. However, they were able to find him shortly afterwards.
The matter went to trial in 2023 but Nonjobe said Qanqabe’s “tricks” delayed the matter. She narrated:
“He kept changing lawyers. At some point he said the magistrate must recuse himself as he had convicted him of the same offence [rape] years back and will be biased… the matter would be postponed multiple times.”
The matter only went ahead without interruptions this year at the Zwelitsha regional court.
As there was no physical evidence of the rape, the state relied on the testimony of three witnesses: Nonjobe, her ex-boyfriend from university and an old neighbour of Qanqane.
The ex-boyfriend corroborated what Nonjone had told him 20 years ago about the rape.
The neighbour also confirmed that Qanqane used to live where Nonjobe said the rape had taken place. He also confirmed that Qanqane indeed used to be a photographer.
Nonjobe said she did not crumble from tough questions from Qanqabe’s lawyer during cross-examination because she knew her truth and stuck to it
“I felt that it was a do-or-die moment for me.”
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According to Nonjobe, all that Qanqabe did was deny that he had raped her but did not put forward a defence. Qanqabe was found guilty of rape last month.
Nonjobe said she did not display any emotion as the verdict was handed down. She added:
“I think it was delayed trauma; I was still processing what had happened. I only cried when I got home.”
Qanqane was handed an 11-year sentence. Nonjobe said when she opened the case, she did not think she would win as it had happened a long time ago. All she wanted was to confront Qanqabe in court and tell him how much he had broken her when she raped her.
Her healing has now started since Qanqabe’s conviction and subsequent sentence, Nonjobe said.
She has nothing but praise for the police and prosecutor who helped put Qanqabe behind bars for raping her. She said:
“I don’t think it was an easy case; they worked overtime to help me. If it weren’t for them, my strength would have weakened.”
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson in the Eastern Cape, Luxolo Tyali, said the challenging thing about Nonjobe’s case was the fact that there was no forensic evidence to corroborate her statement.
Most of the evidence was that of Nonjobe and her ex-boyfriend, to whom she had made the first report, Tyali said.
“Thorough police investigation which placed Qangabe where he was alleged to be in 1997, the evidence of the first report, as well as the prosecutor’s ability to poke holes in the cross-examination of Qanqabe ensured that justice is served.”
Tyali said he hoped Nonjobe’s case would encourage other victims to seek justice.
“Rape cases do not prescribe. We hope that other victims of sexual violence will be encouraged to come forward, even if their assault took place a long time ago,”
he said.