KEY POINTS
- Moses Gqesha was convicted and given a total of eight life sentences and 34 years for the rapes and crimes committed against Andy Kawa.
- Kawa was held and attacked for over 15 hours at Kings Beach in the month of December 2010.
- Because of the case, Kawa became a well-known figure fighting against gender-based violence in South Africa.
Moses Gqesha was convicted by the High Court in the Eastern Cape on Thursday to eight life sentences and an extra 34 years’ imprisonment after raping Gauteng businesswoman Andy Kawa in 2010.
The verdict is being delivered decades after Kawa was subjected to a 15-hour long sexual assault and kidnapping case at Kings Beach in Port Elizabeth.
The court found Gqesha guilty of 12 charges such as rape, robbery, assault, and theft.
Victim’s daughter confronts convicted rapist
When Kawa was given sentencing, his daughter addressed Gqesha in court with upsetting and emotional words.
You won’t let me even appear close to you. You’re staring at the newspaper. What happened is truly repulsive and should not happen, she said while crying.
Kawa went from being a victim to helping others as an advocate
Once Andy Kawa had gone through the traumatic experience, she got involved in speaking out against gender-based violence. In the following years, she released a memoir called Kwanele, Enough!. In her case against the SAPS, she spoke about how the police failed her in getting justice for women.
Kawa claimed law enforcement was slow to start looking for her, did not collect necessary evidence, and did not speak to any suspects. Thanks to her commitment, GBV has become more recognized as an issue in South African courts.
During an interview given in 2018, Kawa remembered vividly when she first spotted her attacker.
I was always drawn to the way he looked at me. “They were furious,” she told us. “He came up from behind and said he would kill me if I tried to scream.”
