The High Court in Cape Town, South Africa, has sentenced a former basketball coach, Marvin Minnaar, to life imprisonment over the abduction, r@pe and killing of a 12-year-old boy whom he claimed had “rejected” him.
Minnaar, who coached the Hout Bay Snipers, kidnapped 12-year-old Sibusiso Dakuse on February 26 2020.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, in a statement on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, said Dakuse lived with his grandmother in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay.
She raised the alarm when he disappeared, leading to a widespread search which included questioning Minnaar.
Minnaar and his stepfather went to the boy’s house to ask if he had been found. He claimed to have walked home with the child but said they parted ways close to the police station.
The High Court of South Africa: Western Cape Division has sentenced a child r@pist and child murderer, Marvin Minnaar to effective life imprisonment after the State invoked the provisions of Section 51(1) of the Criminal Amendment Act, Act 105 of 1997 asking the court to impose life imprisonment on the charges it preferred against him,” the statement read.
“The State charged Minnaar with the kidnapping, r@pe, and m8rder of 12-year-old Sibusiso Dakuse. The court sentenced Minnaar to 8 years direct imprisonment for kidnapping, life imprisonment for rape and life imprisonment for murder.
“It ordered his sentence for kidnapping to run concurrently with the two life sentences. It declared him unfit to possess a firearm and unfit to work with children. It ordered his name to be recorded in the National Child Protection Register and the National Sexual Offenders Register.
“Minnaar was the coach of the Hout Bay Snipers basketball team and coached the deceased. He stayed near the deceased’s home in Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay.
“Dakuse went missing on the afternoon of 26 February 2020. Witness statements showed that the deceased, who stayed with his grandmother, was last seen alive in the presence of the accused around 7 pm that day, 26 February 2020.
“The following day, his grandmother reported him missing at the Hout Bay Police Station. This led to a widespread search involving the police and the community, and the accused also helped to look for him, although he knew that he had kidnapped, r@ped, and k!lled him.
“The accused and his stepfather even went to the deceased’s house to enquire whether he had been found. He confirmed that he did see and walk with the deceased but parted ways close to the Hout Bay Police Station. He kept his lie even to the deceased’s grieving father, who enquired about his son’s disappearance.
“Police found the deceased’s naked body lying face down in the reeds of a wetland off a horse trail two days after his disappearance. They arrested the accused later that day. CCTV footage showed the deceased desperately attempting to flee from the accused and him speedily chasing, catching, and dragging the boy back into the bushes.
“Medical evidence revealed that he had a contusion in the anal area, and his neck had ligature marks around it. The postmortem report revealed that he died of strangulation and that the rest of his body had multiple abrasions and a blunt-force injury to his left eye.
“In her judgment, Judge Nziweni read a clinical psychologist’s report, Abbas, who was part of a panel constituted in terms of Section 286A of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977, to determine whether the accused was a dangerous criminal. The report showed that Minnaar was evasive when answering questions and did not provide any detailed explanation regarding his actions on the day of the offences.
“He reported to the clinical psychologist that he did not realise the extent to which he choked the deceased and that he felt rejected by the deceased. He has antisocial personality traits with a history of problems with authority figures, trouble with the law and violating social norms with no regard for the consequences thereof.
“He has the presence of psychopathic and anti-social personality disorder traits, which were contributing factors to his offending. The report concluded that the accused poses and may continue to pose a serious ongoing threat to victims of similar victimology.
“Most of his risk factors are static, and he is not open to change, he minimised the offences for which he was convicted and exhibited superficial remorse and a lack of empathy.
“He posed a danger to the physical well-being of other people. Although the court agreed with the panel that the accused was a dangerous criminal as per Section 286A of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977, it declined to declare him as dangerous as doing so may lead to the court finding substantial and compelling circumstances that justify deviation from the prescribed minimum sentences. The court found that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances which justify it deviating from the prescribed minimum sentences.”
Western Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv Nicolette Bell, commended Adv Ajam and the investigating officer, Sergeant Mvunelo, for their tenacity in ensuring justice for the deceased, the family, and the broader community of Imizamo Yethu, who were shocked by the heinous, gruesome crime committed by a man who betrayed the trust of a young boy who looked up to him as a coach.
Adv Bell also applauded the initial work done by the late State Adv Mornay Julius and the late Warrant Officer Oosthuizen.
She added that the finalisation of the case may have been delayed due to the accused’s delaying tactics of engaging in several trials within trials and his request for a private psychiatrist, which proved to be a challenge, but she hoped that the deceased family would find solace in knowing that justice has been delivered as the accused is sent to prison for a long time.
She committed the NPA to aggressively prosecute cases of this nature as they encroach on the rights to dignity and privacy of the victims as “enshrined in our Constitution.”
