Johannesburg - Harrowing details of how a Bramfischerville taxi driver allegedly raped and sexually assaulted 14 women were recounted in the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday.
Acting Judge Naren Pandya began handing down his lengthy judgment by summarising evidence heard throughout 26-year-old Vuledzani Ramulifho’s trial.
Ramulifho stands accused of luring women into his white Quantum taxi during 2010, duping them into believing he’d deliver them to their destinations but subsequently pepper-spraying them before raping or sexually assaulting them.
He faces 49 charges, which include kidnapping, extortion, sexual assault and rape.
Ramulifho admitted to being a taxi driver working around the Snake Park, Dobsonville, Roodepoort and Westgate areas but denied being the perpetrator.
The State, represented by prosecutor Nomthetho Gcingca, called 27 witnesses, while Ramulifho’s defence lawyer, Vhonani Matshidza, called two witnesses and Ramulifho himself.
Summarising some of the testimony, Judge Pandya described what six of Ramulifho’s alleged victims experienced at the hands of their attackers. In each of the cases, the witnesses described being picked up by a taxi driver who, instead of dropping them off at their required destination, drove to another point where he would sexually assault or rape them.
Judgment continues on Thursday.
The Star