JOHANNESBURG – Phete Simiao, 25, has been sentenced to two life sentences for the rape and murder of six-year-old Amantle Samane. The Mozambican national pleaded guilty to violating the child in October last year and to her murder, which he stated was to conceal the rape. His sentences will run concurrently, amounting to an effective life imprisonment.
Community expressed relief at sentencing
Cheers erupted in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday as Judge William Karam delivered the sentences. This outcome had been sought by the Orlando East community and Amantle’s family since the trial began last year. Simiao was found guilty of kidnapping, murder, rape, and contravening immigration laws by being in the country illegally.
The child’s body was discovered in Simiao’s shack in Orlando East, Soweto, the location where the rape occurred. In his detailed sentencing, Judge Karam imposed two-year sentences for kidnapping and for contravening the Immigration Act, in addition to the life sentences for murder and rape.
