This week saw the fate of three rapists being sealed in the Western Cape and in Mpumalanga.
One serial rapist has been sentenced to 83 years behind bars, while another has been given five life terms imprisonment, and a third rapist given 20 years direct imprisonment.
Delft serial rapist Mthetheleli Makanda was convicted of six counts of rape, two of robbery with aggravating circumstances and two counts of housebreaking with intent to commit an offence and was sentenced to five life terms behind bars. He got 10 years for rape, 30 years for two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances and 6 years for two counts of house breaking.
Makanda was sentenced at the Wynberg Regional Court.
The State proved that in 2016, Makanda had raped a 42-year-old woman in Nyanga.
He did so by using her trust to gain access to her home, claiming he wanted to take a nap.
When the woman opened up her home for him to rest, as they were acquaintances, he pushed and grabbed her in the direction of the bed and raped her.
A year later, he also raped two girls, aged 11 and a 37-year-old woman. The one minor had been alone at home in Gugulethu when he asked her for water. He had also threatened her with a knife.
Police spokesperson Ndakhe Gwala explained that during the rape of the woman, he had placed the woman’s son inside the bathroom.
“He used the same modus operandi in Delft with another 11-year-old victim who was home alone.”
Gwala added that the State had a solid forensic case against the man and sentenced him. “The suspect was arrested in 2019 after DNA evidence linked him to all the cases.
“A strong case was built by the Investigating Officer, Detective Captain Wendell Taudie of the Provincial FCS and his team, while the suspect remained in custody.
In another case, Luthando Madoda was sentenced to 20 years direct imprisonment at the Plettenberg Bay Regional Court.
The State proved that he met a woman on the street at night, dragged her to a field and raped her twice in kwaNokuthula, Plettenberg Bay.
He was convicted on two counts of rape and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for each count of rape, but the court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Eric Ntabazalila of the National Prosecuting Authority explained that Madoda pleaded not guilty to both counts and testified in his defence that he met the woman on the evening of 26 August 2017.
“She greeted him and said she wanted to enjoy herself in a flirting manner,” explained Ntabazalila.
“He told her he had a place close by, and they both went willingly, but he could not get into his room as he did not have his key.
“He then asked his younger brother to use his room. They both had consensual sex, and he accompanied her the next morning.”
State Prosecutor Johan Erasmus proved to the court that Madoda’s version was a lie as he led the victim in her testimony.
Erasmus said the victim told the court she was at a local tavern on August 26, 2017, and left the establishment at 11pm and that she was slightly intoxicated.
Ntabazalila detailed that the victim had met the accused along the road and attempted to avoid him by walking slower, stopping, and pretending to call her friends.
“He started a conversation, took out a knife, and threatened to stab her if she screamed,” Ntabazalila added.
“She feared for her safety and complied.
“He raped her, and she did not resist as she feared for her life.
“After raping her for the first time, he took her to another area and raped her again. She collected her courage, got dressed and went to her friend’s place, where she relayed what had happened to her.
“She had her tights in her hand and was crying when she reached her friend’s place.
“They reported the rape to the local police, although she didn’t know her attacker.
“Three days after her ordeal, she saw the accused walking on the street in front of her.
“She enquired from the children who were playing nearby who the person was, and they identified him as Luthando.
“She went to the police station to fetch the police, and they all went to a house the children pointed out earlier. He was arrested after she positively identified him as the man who raped her.”
Erasmus argued during the trial: “The accused alleges that he met the complainant in the street, and it was her idea to accompany him home, have intercourse with him, and she left him happy and satisfied. This version does not explain why the complainant arrived at the home of the first report with her tights in her hand, crying. It also does not explain why the complainant could not find the house to point it out to the police.
“In my submission, the version of the accused cannot reasonably possibly be true, considering the undisputed evidence that the complainant was in a long term committed relationship. The complainant must have known at the time of reporting the rape that she would be subjected to questioning by her friend, her life partner, and the police on the incident. She knew she would be subjected to an invasive medical examination, the kind no woman would voluntarily like to be subjected to."
“Having made the report and made the complaint with the police, nothing could be gained by the complainant from identifying the accused three days later. Had his identity remained a mystery, she would not have had to testify or come to court. This behaviour is consistent with someone who was raped and wishes to get justice, not someone who had consensual sex,” he argued.
Ntabazalila said the court agreed with the State’s argument and sentenced the accused on the two counts of rape, and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in the Western Cape, Advocate Nicolette Bell, welcomed the sentence and applauded Erasmus’ efforts to ensure that the accused was charged, convicted and sentenced on two counts of rape.
NPA Regional Spokesperson Monica Nyuswa said in Mpumalanga, The High Court Division, South Africa, Elvis Aron Zulu was sentenced to seven life terms and 83 years direct imprisonment after he was convicted of 22 counts ranging from nine counts of rape, six counts of kidnapping, three counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, three counts of pointing a firearm and one count of possession of an unlicensed firearm.
Zulu’s reign of terror started from January 2011 to November 2014, in Pienaar in the district of KaBokweni.