Durban – A 36-year-old man was handed five life sentences and a further 103 years imprisonment in the Durban High Court on Friday after being convicted of 29 charges, including five of rape.
Nkosinathi Mthembu, who had previously pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faced, was convicted of five counts of rape, nine counts of housebreaking, 10 counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of sexual assault and two counts of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Mthembu’s reign of terror in Tongaat started in 2013 after being released on parole for a minor charge of receiving stolen property.
The court was told that Mthembu, armed with a knife would break into houses, asking for food and valuables before raping or attempting to rape his victims.
Mthembu’s main targets were domestic workers who were alone during the day. His modus operandi would be to wait till the homeowners left to go to work before he attacked.
One woman was raped and stabbed while she was carrying her child. Another had to prepare food for him after he had raped her.
Sentencing Mthembu, Judge Gregory Kruger said: “His continuous house break-ins were carefully plotted and its seems that his main priority in the break-ins was not to steal but to rape. Society needs to be kept safe from people like Mthembu before they lose faith in the State and take the law into their own hands.”
Mthembu showed no emotion when Judge Kruger sentenced him.
He said that having considered the case he could find no reason to give Mthembu the minimum sentence.
When asked for a comment, Mthembu’s mother angrily declined to speak to anyone from the media.
African News Agency