Sabelo Khumalo and the complainants were not known to each other.
Image: File
A 33-year-old serial rapist was sentenced to 85 years' direct imprisonment by the Estcourt Regional Court following his conviction on five counts of rape and two counts of housebreaking with intent to steal and theft.
Sabelo Khumalo, whose name will be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders, committed these offences in the Ntambamhlophe area near Estcourt.
He and the complainants were not known to each other.
"Between January 2021 and September 2023, Khumalo raped five women who were aged between 22 and 29 years old. He would break into their homes in the early hours of the morning and rape them. In two instances, he took the complainants’ cellphones before fleeing the scene," said Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, NPA Regional Spokesperson – KwaZulu-Natal Division.
The complainants were taken to a nearby hospital for medical assistance.
"Khumalo was arrested following another housebreaking incident, when buccal samples (taken upon his arrest) linked him through DNA to the previous cases.
"In court, the state presented the evidence of all the complainants. They told the court about the trauma they continued to experience because of the incidents. Further, the DNA evidence comprising expert reports linking Khumalo to the offences was entered as exhibits in court.
"In aggravation of sentence, the state asked the court to impose sentences in accordance with the minimum sentence, and for the sentences to run consecutively. This matter was successfully prosecuted by Eddie Mbewu and Nonhlanhla Phungula."
Ramkisson-Kara said Khumalo was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on each of the five counts of rape, and five years imprisonment on each of the two counts of housebreaking with intent to steal and theft.
"The court ordered that the sentences run consecutively, resulting in the cumulative effective sentence of 85 years' imprisonment. He was declared unfit to possess a firearm, and the court ordered that his name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders."
She said this matter was the positive result of a Serial Rapist Prioritisation Initiative led by the NPA’s Sexual Offences and Community Affairs Unit in conjunction with SAPSs’ Serial Electronic and Communication Investigative Unit.
"As part of this initiative, serial rape cases are identified with a need to have a targeted focus on prioritising the investigation and prosecution of serial rapists in South Africa. Such successful prosecutions demonstrate the coordinated working relations between the business units within the offices of the DPP KZN and our stakeholders, in fighting the scourge of Gender-based Violence and Femicide in our country.
"The National Prosecuting Authority welcomes the successful conviction and sentence. We hope that this sentence sends a clear and strong message that perpetrators of gender-based violence will be held accountable for their actions."