Durban - A 39-year-old KwaZulu-Natal principal was sentenced to life in prison by the Vryheid Regional Court on Tuesday for raping a 15-year-old pupil.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said Mduduzi Ndlovu was sentenced on July 18 following an intensive investigation by the Vryheid Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, which secured a sentence of life imprisonment.
Netshiunda said the court heard how Ndlovu manipulated and violated the 15-year-old boy who trusted and believed in him as his teacher.
“Investigations proved that on one afternoon in 2018 the principal requested the boy to assist him in his office and inside the office the [principal] became aggressive and raped the victim.
“He threatened to harm the boy if he told anyone about the incident. He also gave him money and stationery in exchange for his silence,” he said.
He said Ndlovu raped the victim on several occasions.
“He would sometimes fetch him from home and drive with him to his place of residence in the Bhekuzulu area where he would rape him,” he said.
In 2022, Netshiunda said a church member noticed strange behaviour from the boy and questioned him.
“The teenager broke his silence and a rape case was duly opened,” he said.
Ndlovu made several court appearances before he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for rape, he said
Netshiunda added that the accused was also declared unfit to possess a firearm and his name will be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.