Pretoria - A rapist does not murder his victim - he murders her self-respect and destroys her feeling of physical and mental integrity and security. His monstrous deed often haunts his victim and subjects her to mental torment for the rest of her life - a fate often worse than loss of life.
These remarks were made in 1996 by a judge who at the time sentenced a rapist, but high court in Pretoria Judge Eben Jordaan, in sentencing a serial rapist to 14 life terms on Monday, said he wholeheartedly agreed with these sentiments.
“This will send a clear message to others who contemplate rape,” the judge said when he sealed the fate of KwaMhlanga sangoma Sello Joseph Mkhomazi, 31. “In my view serial rapists should spend the rest of their lives in jail, as they pose a danger to society and women in particular”.
Mkhomazi was convicted of 14 charges of rape and several charges of robbery and assault.
He pleaded not guilty and mostly claimed that he had “love relationships” with his victims - several of whom were raped more than once. Some were repeatedly raped, but in several of the cases somehow he was only charged with one rape.
This prompted prosecutor Cornelia Harmzen to argue in aggravation of sentence that it is clear Mkhomazi could not control his sexual desires. “He caused fear and humiliation everywhere he went. He was assisted in the crimes by accomplices who are still on the run.”
One of these accomplices was a former Sunday schoolteacher, only identified as Mojalefa. Mkhomazi and his accomplices had a reign of terror in the Phola Park, near Thokoza and the KwaMhlanga areas from 2009 until 2012.
Most of their young victims told the same tale: they were overpowered by the men, who grabbed them around the neck while they were walking in the street.
The court heard how the system failed the victims over the years, as Mkhomazi was in the past arrested on at least three times for rape. Time and again he was released as the DNA evidence took long to be concluded and the trial magistrates eventually withdrew the charges as the cases were dragging on for too long.
Not perturbed by having been arrested in the past, Mkhomazi continued his rape spree. Harmzen said, however, he learnt from his past mistakes and as time went on, he no longer took victims to his house, but rather to secluded spots.
As years went by and more victims emerged, police concluded it was the work of a serial rapist.
The victims mostly did not know their attackers, apart from a 13-year-old, who said she was invited to a tavern by her Sunday schoolteacher to talk about the church. She took her 15-year-old friend along.
The man was in the company of the accused. They asked the teenagers to drive with them to run an errand. The teenager said on the way he played gospel music and they had a discussion about church affairs.
They drove around and the girls eventually said they wanted to go home. The men promised to take them, but the 13-year-old said Mkhomazi, who was driving, suddenly drove very fast into a bush.
The two teenagers jumped out of the moving car and tried to run away. The accused stopped the bakkie and, armed with a firearm and a knife, apprehended the girls. She heard the accused saying “you take the younger one; I'll take the older one”.
The 15-year-old said she was raped twice that night by the Sunday schoolteacher. The 13-year-old testified she was raped four times by the accused.
Another victim testified she was overpowered by Mkhomazi and his accomplice after she fetched her social grant. She suffers from epileptic fits and is HIV-positive. She tried to warn him during the rape that he had to wear a condom, but he turned a deaf ear, she said.
A 17-year-old was raped while on her way to fetch her matric results, while a 16-year-old described how she was raped three times.
Pretoria News