types

TYPES OF RAPE
SELECTED PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROM A FIVE YEAR ANALYSIS
OF CONVICTIONS AND SENTENCES FOR SPOUSAL KILLINGS
IN THREE GAUTENG COURTS

This brief summary provides an overview of a study currently in the process of being written up. The final research report will be made available within the next few months.

Information for all cases of spousal murder heard between 1994-1998 was drawn from the two High Courts in Gauteng - Witwatersrand Local Division and Transvaal Provincial - and one regional court, the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court. Our sources of information included probation officer’s reports, expert witness reports, judgments and sentences, trial transcripts, and charge sheets. When no written information was available in the docket, we listened to the taped proceedings. In addition, newspaper reports for the same period were also surveyed to assist in the identification of cases.

Description of how sample was obtained Female Male Combined totals
Total number of cases identified 43 146 189
Number of cases resulting in acquittals
due to a lack of evidence 4 21 25
Final sample totals 39 125 164

Table 1: Breakdown of sample by sex

As these figures indicate, men who kill their female partners outnumber their female counterparts by approximately four to one. The circumstances in which men and women kill their intimate partners are also strongly differentiated along gender lines. The table below indicates that most men kill women over their sexual choices and behaviour whilst most women kill their partners under circumstances in which they are being abused.

Precipitating event Female Male Total
Accident 5 9 14
Defending self 10 2 12
Did not obey 0 7 7
Ending relationship 1 15 16
No explanation/insufficient information 5 30 35
Miscellaneous 1 9 10
Abuse by partner 13 0 13
Struggles over sexual choices and behaviour 2 40 42
Financial gain 2 2 4
‘Nagging’ and bothering 0 6 6
Disagreements over money 0 5 5
Total 39 125 164

Table 2: Precipitating factors by sex

While most women kill under circumstances in which they are being abused, the same is not true for male perpetrators, at least a third of whom has abused their female partner before killing her. It is also likely that table 3 underestimates the number of cases involving abuse; relationships described as ‘unhappy’ or ‘unpleasant’ or ‘stormy’ were not included within the sample of abuse cases (although such descriptions are often euphemisms for abuse).

Female Male
Accused abused by victim 22 (56%) 0 (0%)
Accused abusing victim 0 (0%) 39 (31%)
Total 22 39

Table 3: Presence of abuse

Table 4 summarises all sentences handed down to men and women.

Sentence Type Female Male
Acquitted 11 (28%) 9 (7%)
Non-Custodial 11(28%) 12 (10%)
0 - 5 years 3 (7%) 18 (14%)
6 - 10 years 2 (6%) 32 (26%)
11- 15 years 3 (7%) 31 (25%)
16 - 20 years 1 (3%) 15 (12%)
21+ years 8 (21%) 7 (8%)
Total n = 39 n =125

Table 4: Summary of all sentences by sex

Those women who fare worst at the hands of the criminal justice are those killing their abusive partners using atypical methods ie. they employ third parties or kill the man while he is asleep or otherwise vulnerable. For this group of women, the history of abuse appears to play no role as a mitigating factor. Instead, they are compared with those who kill for financial gain and their sentences are equally as lengthy.

Precipitating factor Female Male
Abuse 5
Financial gain 1 1
No Explanation 1
Miscellaneous 1
Total 8 1

Table 5: Use of third parties by precipitating factor

Our research finds that presiding officers sometimes take the abuse into account when convicting and sentencing women. They are however, less likely to treat the men's history of abuse towards their female partners as an aggravating factor when convicting and sentencing men. Arguably, the men's history of abuse is highly relevant to understanding why the killing occurred and undermines arguments that the killing occurred during a temporary and aberrant loss of control. By taking the previous history of abuse into account, it can be demonstrated that such men are readily 'provoked' by the smallest events and generally prone to 'losing control' around their female partners; their violent response is not an isolated incident but part of an ongoing pattern.

Sentence Type Female accused abused by victim Male accused abusing victim
Acquitted 5 (22%) 2 (5%)
Non-Custodial Sentence 8 (36%) 2 (5%)
0 - 5 years 2 (10%) 6 (15%)
6 - 10 years 1 (4%) 10 (26%)
11-15 years 2 (10%) 12 (31%)
16 - 20 5 (13%)
21+ 4 (18%) 2 (5%)
Total 22 (100%) 39

Table 6: Sentences handed down for all cases involving abuse

For purposes of comparison, it is also worth contrasting the sentences handed down to female accused in cases involving abuse (the most common circumstance under which women kill) with those sentences handed down to male accused in cases related to struggles over sexual choices and behaviour (the most common circumstance under which men kill).

Sentence Type Female* Male
Acquitted 1 (2%)
Non-Custodial Sentence 1 5 (12%)
0 - 5 years 9 (23%)
6 - 10 years 1 13 (33%)
11-15 years 10 (25%)
16 - 20 years 2 (5%)
21+ years Total 2 40

* numbers too small to permit the use of percentages
Table 7: Comparison of sentences handed down in cases involving control over sexual choices and behaviour

Female Male
Previous convictions 3(8%) 40(25%)
Totals n = 39 n = 125

Table 8: Previous convictions by sex

Previous convictions for the men include drunken driving, murder, assault, theft, robbery and rape. Previous convictions for two of the women include drunken driving only. One woman had previous convictions for assault and robbery.

Previous convictions appear to have a limited influence on the length of sentence handed down. While some may not always be relevant, in other instances they are highly relevant - particularly when they involve previous assaults by the men upon their partners. Of the 40 men with previous convictions, 19 (or almost half) also had a history of abusing their female partners (although this group’s previous convictions did not always include convictions for assaulting their female partners).

Sentence Type Female Male
Non-custodial 2 1 (3%)
0-5 yrs 4 (10%)
6 - 10 14 (35%)
11- 15 yrs 1 9 (22%)
16 - 20 years 10 (25%)
21+ 1 (3%)
unknown 1 (3%)
Total 3 40

Table 9: Sentences handed down to those with previous convictions

Nineteen men (or 15%) of the sample killed other people in addition to killing the woman. Others killed included children, the woman’s mother or sister or her new partner. Only one woman killed other people in addition to her partner (this was her partner’s mistress).

Sentence Female Male
Acquittals 2
Non-custodial 1
0 - 5 years 1
6 - 10 years 3
11- 15 years 9
16 - 20 years 2
21+ 2
Total 1 19

Table 10: Sentences handed down to those killing others in addition to the woman

Three men have killed more than one female partner/relation. These include:

• Jacob Jim Sigudu who shot dead both his wife, Margaret Sesi Sigudu, and his mistress, Thandi Mabena, on the same day - 24 December 1994. He was sentenced to 20 years for the murder of his wife and 6 years for the murder of his mistress.
• Jackie Malaza was not included in the sample because he killed his sister-in-law. However, he had previously killed his wife Grace Malaza in 1990 (for which he received a suspended sentence) before killing his sister-in-law Cynthia Malaza in 1996, for which he was sentenced to 10 years.
• Arthur White killed his wife in 1984 and was sentenced to 15 years. In 1996, a year after having been paroled for the murder of his wife, he killed his mistress Kim du Preez and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Other dangerous men with a history of violence towards women are:

• Johannes Ditsheko who had previously raped and killed a child;
• Moses Mokoena who had been previously convicted of assault and attempted rape before he killed his female partner;
• Thomas Bafana Mashinini who had three previous convictions for rape and two for assault (it is unknown who he assaulted) before he killed his girlfriend Meikie Elizabeth Sindwa. He was sentenced to 20 years for her murder.