A 22-year-old South African man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping his biological mother at her residence in Carnarvon, Northern Cape.
The convict was sentenced by the Carnarvon Regional Court after DNA evidence linked him to the November 2025 sexual assault.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Mojalefa Senokoatsane, the incident occurred on November 23, 2025, while the 42-year-old woman was at home with her partner.
The court heard that the woman and her partner had consumed alcohol before going to bed, while the accused had also been drinking at a friend’s house before returning home.
The man reportedly found his mother and her partner asleep and sexually assaulted his mother while she was unconscious.
The woman woke up during the incident and realised what was happening. She confronted her son, who subsequently fled the house.
She later informed her partner about the incident, after which the matter was reported to the police.
Senokoatsane said the accused initially denied the allegation after his arrest, but investigators subsequently obtained DNA evidence linking him to the offence.
He said the weight of the evidence, including the victim’s testimony and DNA results, eventually prompted the accused to plead guilty to rape.
In her victim impact statement, the woman told the court that she was devastated by the betrayal, particularly because she had raised her son as a single mother.
She said the incident had continued to affect her emotionally, adding that she had been receiving counselling and experiencing difficulty sleeping because of the trauma.
The court considered the guilty plea during sentencing but held that the gravity of the offence warranted a substantial prison term.
The convict was consequently sentenced to 20 years’ direct imprisonment and ordered to have his details entered in South Africa’s National Register for Sex Offenders.