Johannesburg - He left her paralysed. He took away her joy and her sense of worth.
Five years after he raped her, she still battled to get his image out of her head, a tearful 27-year-old woman said in the high court sitting in Palm Ridge on Wednesday.
“He took away my youth. I felt useless. I would smell him… hear his voice. He paralysed me,” the woman said.
When police called her in 2013 to identify a man suspected of raping her three years earlier, it took just 40 seconds for *Tapuwa to point out Lawrence Bila Mabunda - a man facing 49 charges, including 22 of rape.
Tapuwa told the court she ran into Mabunda at Park Station while waiting for her boyfriend.
She had just arrived from Mpumalanga and was unfamiliar with Joburg. She had been under the impression she was at the MTN taxi rank, where her boyfriend was to pick her up.
After countless calls, her boyfriend asked her to verify her exact location with people around her, and she approached Mabunda’s taxi, which had passengers.
Seated on the driver’s seat, Mabunda allegedly agreed to take her to the right place once he had dropped other passengers off as the MTN rank was too far.
“I paid him R50 and he drove till the road ended. He then pointed towards some lights and said ‘there’s MTN’. He said he’d park and walk me through the bushes as he couldn’t go in with the taxi and it wasn’t safe for a woman to walk on her own,” Tapuwa said.
Mabunda allegedly later drew out a knife, grabbed her hand, ordered her to undress and then raped her.
When she tried to leave afterwards, “he said I’m not yet done with you”, Tapuwa told court.
“He turned me to face down and said he loved doggy-style. When he was done, he took my underwear and wiped himself. He then took my bag and said ‘pay me’. He took my money and cellphone,” the victim said.
She was shattered.
“I couldn’t face society. I never even dated. I didn’t want anyone around me… including my father,” she told the court.
Also testifying was a woman who was raped in front of her 2-year-old son. Her story was similar. She had been waiting for her boyfriend when Mabunda allegedly offered to take her to the right taxi rank.
With her baby strapped to her back and Mabunda carrying one of her bags, she was led to a bushy area, where she was raped and robbed of her money.
Mabunda, through his lawyer, advocate Michael Twala, denied ever meeting any of the women.
The Star