The High Court of South Africa sitting at Vredendal Magistrates Court has sentenced a 38-year-old man, Calvin Cloete, to two life terms and 31 years direct imprisonment for the r3pe and m8rder of his ex-girlfriend, Carmen Gouws, 21.
Initial reports reveal that on 7 October 2023, Cloete attacked the victim with an axe and also r3ped her. Her body was discovered by children in a field in Flentersvlei Farm in the early hours of the morning.
On Tuesday 29 October 2024 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape, life imprisonment for m8rder,13 years direct imprisonment for attempted m8rder and 5 years direct imprisonment for kidnapping. He will only be eligible for parole after he has served at least 25 years in prison
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in a statement on Wednesday said the State charged Cloete with attempted m8rder, r3pe, kidnapping, and attempted m8rder.
“He pleaded guilty to all the charges in terms of Section 112(2)of Act 51 of 1977 but denied that the murder was premeditated. During his cross-examination, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Adv Louise Freister-Sampson asked him if he knew that when he dragged her out of the house with an axe in hand he would kill her. He confirmed that he knew,” the statement read.
Cloete told the court that he found the deceased with her friends including. He asked for two beer bottles and got angry when he noticed she ignored him. He hit her on the head with a beer bottle. He asked her to go with him, but she refused.
He took out a panga and threatened her but she refused to go with him. He then forced her to go with him while beating and pushing her on the way to the tuck shop.
He threatened her “Will jy sien hoe waai jou tette”. He took her to a secluded area where he raped her. He held his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. He then chased her away.
The affair between the 38-year-old members of the 27s gang who obtained the rank of Captain 1 was characterized by gender-based violence. He confessed during cross-examination that he beat her up often. She was 13 years old, and he was 29 when they got involved and became intimate when she was 15. He claimed that on the day of the murder, 07 October 2023, they had a date. She found her with friends and the man she had an affair with was present.
He left with her, but she resisted showing the man with whom she had an affair that she did not leave and have sex with him voluntarily. After intercourse, she threatened to open a rape case against him which would result in him going to jail and for her to be with the man. He claimed he was not jealous and did not belong in prison.
He hacked her to death with an axe on her 21st birthday. Her postmortem report shows that no part of her body was spared from injuries. He stomped on her body to such an extent he left imprints of his shoes on her back. He felt guilty and decided to go to the police to hand himself over but walked past the police station as he needed to hustle for something first as he was a member of a gang and needed to take something with him. The accused has a colourful list of previous convictions which include four counts of malicious property damage and eleven counts of assault.
The second attempted murder charge he was convicted and sentenced for, came after he stabbed Isak Booi in the neck after he refused to answer a question. He confessed that as a ‘plank’ – a member of the 27s gang, they believed in spilling blood, and he carried a knife all the time. He confirmed that even if he were released from prison, he would continue carrying a knife.
In aggravation of sentence, Adv Freister-Sampson argued that Cloete represented toxic masculinity and epitomized everything women abhor. She argued that the deceased was groomed into a relationship with the accused, and he believed that if he could not have her, nobody could have her. She emphasised to the court that the only fitting sentence was life imprisonment.
Judge Slingers sentenced the accused to 13 years direct imprisonment for Gouws attempted, life imprisonment for her rape, five years direct imprisonment for her kidnapping, 13 years direct imprisonment for Booi’s attempted murder and life imprisonment for Gouws’ murder.
She ordered the rest of the sentences to run concurrently with the life imprisonment sentences. She further ordered, by Section 276B(1)(b), that the accused shall not be eligible for parole until he has served 25 years.
Adv Nicolette Bell, Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, expressed shock at the level of gender-based violence the young woman had to go through which resulted in her death.
Adv Bell applauded the investigation and prosecution team saying each of the successful prosecutions was a culmination of months and even years of painstaking investigative and prosecutorial work and exemplifying hundreds of similar cases prosecuted successfully daily.
