Klerksdorp detective's file work puts rapist away for 16 years
Thabiso Ivan Tong was sentenced in the Klerksdorp Sexual Offences Court for a 2020 attack on his then-girlfriend in Wilkoppies.
A 48-year-old man has been sentenced to 16 years of direct imprisonment for raping his then-girlfriend at a townhouse in Wilkoppies, Klerksdorp, in September 2020.
Thabiso Ivan Tong was convicted of rape in the Klerksdorp Sexual Offences Court and sentenced on Monday, 21 September 2026, according to a South African Police Service media statement issued by the office of the North West provincial commissioner.
The statement records that the incident took place on the night of Thursday, 24 September 2020. The complainant, who was 32 years old at the time, was with Tong, then her boyfriend. She told police that he became aggressive during an argument and assaulted her before taking her to a bedroom, where he sexually assaulted her. She sustained injuries and bruising.
The matter was reported to the police and investigated by the Klerksdorp Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit, which brought it before the court.
North West provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Arthur Peter Adams welcomed the sentence and named two officials for their work on the case: Detective Sergeant Mpho Portia Mokgosi of the Klerksdorp SAPS FCS Unit, and Senior State Prosecutor Wilna Cordier. Adams commended their dedication and collaboration in securing the conviction.
The statement is a police summary of the case and the sentence, not the court record itself. The full judgment and the evidence led in the Klerksdorp Sexual Offences Court were not attached to it.
For readers in Klerksdorp and across the province, the case is a documented instance of the FCS unit and the National Prosecuting Authority taking a reported sexual offence from complaint through to conviction and a custodial sentence. The FCS units are the police’s dedicated structure for family violence, child protection and sexual offences, and the statement credits both the investigating officer and the prosecutor by name.
Source: South African Police Service (SAPS), Klerksdorp FCS Unit secures justice as rapist sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment. https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=71432
