‘Soccer coach’ jailed for four counts of sexual assault

A 28-year old  Gqeberha soccer coach has been jailed after being found guilty of the sexual assault of four boys.

Sizwe ‘Lali’ Mphini was sentenced in the Port Elizabeth Regional Court to five years in jail for sexually assaulting four boys between the years 2017 and 2018.

Mphini was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault and sentenced to five years imprisonment for each count. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently meaning that he will serve five years direct imprisonment.

NPA Regional spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani said that the youngest of his victims was eight years old while the oldest was 14 years old at the time of the sexual assault.

“During 2016 Mphini saw young boys playing soccer in an open field in Gqeberha. He then asked them if they had a soccer coach and they said no. Mphini volunteered to be their coach and promised to buy them soccer jerseys. The children were excited and they agreed to his proposal. The team was named Mighty Eagles,” Ngcakani said.

However, the children testified in court that Mphini had not bought them soccer jerseys. 

Ngcakani said that during practice time he would call the boys one by one and then sexually assault them. 

“Mphini would invite the boys to his house to eat food and watch cartoons. He would call them one by one to his bedroom… He would instruct them not to disclose the sexual assault to anyone,” Ngcakani said.

Ngcakani said the boys had testified in court that the soccer coach had sexually assaulted them.

“They said that at first they were too afraid to tell their parents. The court also heard that Mphini had abused more boys, not just the four who came forward. It is alleged that the other boys were afraid to report the crimes which were allegedly committed against them,” Ngcakani said.

“Rumors about Mphini’s wrongdoings started to spread and the lid blew open when one parent went looking for her boy and found him at Mphini’s house with other young boys. She took her 10-year-old son home and when she questioned the child he disclosed the sexual assaults and stated that Mphini did the same to other boys,” Ngcakani said.

A community meeting was held and when other boys came forward the community opened a case at Walmer police station.