Mtunzini - The Mtunzini High Court sentenced a 32-year-old man on Thursday to five life sentences and 45 years in jail for raping and murdering women, the National Prosecuting Authority said.
“He was found guilty of five counts of murder, three counts of rape and five counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances,” NPA spokeswoman Natasha Ramkisson-Kara said.
Ntokozo Skhumbuzo Mthimkhulu targeted women who were either entering or leaving the Empangeni bus and taxi rank during the period of May to August 2010.
He would lure them into nearby bushes or sugar cane plantations where he robbed, raped and killed them.
When he was luring them, he promised them airtime or transport to their destination.
During mitigation, Mthimkhulu said that he was angry at his mother for abandoning him when he was younger.
He also mentioned that he was bitter because his girlfriend had “aborted their child,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
When presiding officer Nompumelelo Hadebe was handing down her sentence, she told Mthimkhulu that his hostile feelings towards the women in his life were no justification for the heinous crimes he committed.
Sapa