Durban - A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 30 years behind bars for raping two women, Kwazulu-Natal police said in a statement on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said Nkosinathi Nqobile Myeni was convicted of raping a 38-year-old woman in February 2015, and a 17-year-old in 2014.
The Empangeni Regional Court sentenced him to 15 years for each rape and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
In the most recent case in 2015, he offered to walk a woman to her home in KwaDlangezwa because it was dark. Instead, he raped her and fled with her cellphone.
Mbhele said the woman reported the rape to Mtunzini police and Myeni was arrested soon afterwards.
The accused's DNA also linked him to a rape case opened at Esikhaleni police station in 2014.
"Myeni raped a then 17-year-old female while she was walking near a cemetery, threatening her with a knife in October 2014," Mbhele said.
In a separate case, the Pongola Regional Court sentenced a 26-year-old man to 30 years behind bars for raping his nine-year-old niece over a three-year period.
Mbhele said: "The victim was raped between 2012 and 2015, the teacher noticed that her school performance was deteriorating and questioned her. She opened up to her about the abuse and the teacher reported the matter to her guardian, as well as the police."