ZIMBABWEAN PASTOR CONVICTED OF RAPE IN BOTSWANA
A Zimbabwean self-styled pastor has been convicted of rape in Molepolole, Botswana after DNA evidence linked him to the sexual abuse of his girlfriend’s 15-year-old sister.
Shane Mutizwa appeared before Senior Magistrate Mmamerafe Phologo and was convicted. He will be sentenced on11 August 2026.
The court heard the offense occurred between June and November 2021 in Kolobeng. The case came to light after police received information that Mutizwa was sexually abusing the minor.
Seven state witnesses testified. The victim initially recanted her police statement in court and denied ever having sex with Mutizwa, saying she was told to sign her statement without it being read to her. She told the court she had only visited Mutizwa twice, once to buy a school uniform and once to collect groceries, and that while they slept in the same bedroom they did not share blankets.
Due to these contradictions, the magistrate declared her a hostile witness.
Citing the 2005 Botswana Law Report case of Boitumelo v The State, Magistrate Phologo ruled that where a child aged 14 to 16 has not consented, the charge is rape and not defilement.
The turning point was DNA evidence. The court found that Mutizwa’s DNA matched the profile obtained from the victim’s genital swabs.
“The identity of the accused is linked to the circumstantial evidence that the accused person’s DNA was found in the DNA profile obtained from the victim’s genital swabs,” Phologo said. “Even though the witness was hostile, the court finds that she unintentionally strengthened the prosecution’s case when stating that she was sent to meet the accused on a couple of occasions and spent the night with him in his bedroom. Other witnesses also saw the victim with the accused on those occasions.”
The magistrate added there was no doubt penetration occurred. A psychiatric report further stated that the victim showed signs of trauma consistent with rape.
The court dismissed Mutizwa’s defense as an afterthought and found him guilty of rape.