31 May 2022

Galeitsiwe Leelamang, will spend the next 26 years in jail for raping his own mother on two occasions.  

The Court of Appeal yesterday confirmed the sentence against Leelamang after he failed to provide grounds for his application for leave to appeal out of time.  Delivering judgment, Justice Isaac Lesetedi said Leelamang, whose sentence by the magistrates’ court was confirmed by the High Court on October 21, 2020 filed his appeal out of time.

Justice Lesetedi said where he was supposed to have filed his appeal within six months from the date of judgment, Leelamang only did so on April 26, 2021, which was more than six months from the date of the decision.

He said the appellant overlooked requirements of Rule 39(1) of the Rules of the Court of Appeal that stipulate no notice of application for leave to appeal out of time filed later than the time limits set out under Rule 36(2) shall be entertained, save in exceptional circumstances and where there are strong prospects of success.

“Nowhere in his papers does the applicant contend that he has provided exceptional circumstances accounting for his delay, nor that he has very strong grounds of appeal,” said the judge.

He said Leelamang was charged with raping his own mother on two successive nights, and in circumstances where his identity was unquestionable.

Justice Lesetedi said on the first occasion, Leelamang lured his mother away from home and drove her to a secluded place at night in the pretext he wanted her to accompany him to a traditional doctor, and raped her.

He said on the second occasion, the applicant tried to get his mother to open the bedroom for him, giving the excuse he had come to fetch a kettle.

Fearing he would rape her again, the victim refused to open, but upon hearing people speaking close to her house, she drew confidence that it might be safe, and that he would not assault her in the presence of other people.  

However, when she opened, the appellant pounced on her, closed the door, covered her mouth and dragged her to bed and raped her.

“She struggled to shout but gave up as she also did not want to awaken the children she was sleeping with lest they witnessed the shameful incident,” said the Judge.

Although the applicant initially denied that sexual intercourse took place, he would later on during trial, backtrack and claim that it was consensual.

The judge said the decision of the magistrate to convict him was therefore well-reasoned.

The magistrate was alive to the need for a cautious approach to complainant’s evidence, and the risk of false incrimination, said Justice Lesetedi. Nonetheless, after examining the case, the magistrate found beyond reasonable doubt that the complainant’s evidence was credible while the applicant’s was false.  ends