Johannesburg - A Soweto mother testified on Wednesday about her teenage daughter’s rape minutes before her 22-year-old son was killed at her Klipspruit home in the early hours of August 20, 2012.
The family suffered a 40-minute ordeal after an armed intruder broke into their house.
Lungisane Innocent Mdlolo, dubbed “One Man”, is accused of the murder and rape.
It is alleged Mdlolo broke into female-headed homes and raped some of the women during the attacks. The attacks occurred in Pimville and Klipspruit.
Mdlolo was 29 at the time of his arrest on December 1, 2012.
He is facing 10 counts of housebreaking, five of robbery, three of kidnapping, three of rape, three of possession of a firearm or ammunition (in the alternative) and one count of murder.
An unshaken Mdlolo sat in the accused’s box on Wednesday as the Soweto woman testified in the South Gauteng High Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
He chuckled when the State asked the woman
if he was indeed the perpetrator.
The Soweto mother sobbed while giving evidence on how she had left her daughter watching television
and went to bed.
She said she was fast asleep around midnight when the light in her bedroom was switched on.
The woman testified that the intruder was pointing a gun at her when she woke up.
The thug instructed his victim to keep quiet. He took her money and cellphone.
The woman said her teenage daughter had entered her bedroom in the middle of the attack. The armed robber ordered the teen to stand next to her mother.
The witness said she was wearing her nightdress, while her daughter was in her pyjamas – a top and trousers.
The State requested an adjournment to allow the woman, who had become emotional, to take a break. However, she insisted on continuing with her testimony.
The woman testified that the man decided to rape the girl.
“I asked him if he was going to rape her in my presence. He then said no, he’ll do it in the other room.
“He said I shouldn’t worry because he had a condom with him.”
The man then removed a condom from his pocket.
She said she was warned not to leave the bedroom, while the accused left with her daughter to an adjoining room, where the alleged rape took place.
The witness told the court the armed man shot and killed her son when he arrived home from a friend’s place during the attack.
“At the time I was praying. I thought to myself that my son was going to die because this man was inside the house with a gun.”
Shortly after her son’s arrival, a shot went off in a passage in the house. She and her daughter went to check what had happened.
She saw blood on her son.
“I turned him around and that’s when he took his last gasp. I closed his eyes and mouth,” she said, adding that the bullet had hit her son in the chest.
She said the attack had led to her losing her memory at times.
The matter was adjourned to Friday. - The Star