A Bulawayo court has acquitted a teacher accused of raping a colleague on two occasions after ruling that the complainant was not a credible witness and that the State had failed to establish a prima facie case.
Ngqabutho Sibanda, 27, who teaches at a school in Nyamandlovu, was found not guilty by Regional Magistrate Sibonginkosi Mkandla at the close of the State’s case.
In her judgment, Magistrate Mkandla said the complainant had given false evidence and that material presented during the trial pointed to a consensual romantic relationship between the two teachers.
The court heard that the complainant denied ever being in a relationship with Sibanda. However, the defence produced WhatsApp messages which the magistrate said contradicted her account.
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The magistrate also questioned the complainant’s conduct after the alleged assaults.
She noted that the first alleged rape was said to have taken place in a four-roomed staff house occupied by other teachers, yet the complainant did not call for help or report the incident to colleagues the following morning.
“It is shocking that as she was allegedly raped, she did not scream, and that defies logic,” Magistrate Mkandla said.
She added that the pair had sexual intercourse again the following afternoon and that the complainant only reported the alleged offences to police about a week later, after she had been confronted by Sibanda’s girlfriend over their relationship.
Representing Sibanda, defence lawyer Constance Mathaba argued that the sexual relationship between the two teachers had been consensual.
She told the court that the pair initially became friends before entering into a romantic relationship during which they kissed, cuddled and regularly had consensual sex.
According to the defence, the complainant told Sibanda that she was married and that her husband lived in South Africa. Sibanda, in turn, disclosed that he was involved in a relationship with a receptionist at the same school.
Mathaba said the complainant frequently invited Sibanda to her room and that they often spent the night together.
She argued that the rape complaint was made only after the complainant was confronted by Sibanda’s girlfriend, causing the relationship between the two teachers to deteriorate.
During her testimony, however, the complainant denied ever having sexual intercourse before meeting Sibanda.
“I have never slept with anyone, and at our church, they do not allow congregants to engage in sex before marriage. I’m a virgin,” she told the court.
The prosecution, led by Charmaine Mutapi, alleged that on 11 August 2025 the 35-year-old complainant was asleep in her room at the school staff cottages when Sibanda knocked on her window.
The State said she opened the door after Sibanda told her he wanted to collect something from her room, before he allegedly raped her.
Prosecutors further alleged that Sibanda returned at about 05:00 the following morning, entered her room while she was asleep and sexually assaulted her again.
After considering the evidence, Magistrate Mkandla ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove its case sufficiently for Sibanda to be placed on his defence, resulting in his acquittal at the close of the State’s case.
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