Johannesburg - Serial rapist Lungisani Innocent Mdlolo is tall and slim and very much in your face.
On Tuesday, the man dubbed “One Man”, who had opportunistically preyed on women and a teenage girl in Pimville and Klipspruit, walked through the main entrance of the high court sitting in Palm Ridge straight to freedom.
Mdlolo was to appear before Judge George Maluleka for sentencing in a string of criminal cases.
He was convicted in October for murder, three counts of rape, five of armed robbery, 10 of housebreaking and theft, possession of an unlicensed firearm and pointing of a firearm. He was acquitted on the three kidnapping charges he was facing.
When news filtered into the courtroom that Mdlolo had escaped from the building, a sense of disbelief and panic took hold.
Inside court 12, investigating officer David Motsi and State prosecutor, advocate Elaine Moonsamy, sat discussing how they would break the news to Mdlolo’s victims.
The two knew they needed to be careful how they handled the task.
Moonsamy has told the court on Friday during aggravation of sentence testimony that some of Mdlolo’s victims had suffered depression after their ordeals, while one had suffered a stroke.
The fugitive has appeared in court in shackles since the start of his trial in April. On Tuesday, sources said he was not in leg-irons.
A source told The Star that they found it strange that all the accused who were expected to appear in court 12 were shackled, except Mdlolo.
“We understand that he walked all the way from the basement to the court cells in front of them without being cuffed. As he was walking, he started running. They thought he was just playing, but realised that he was gone as they continued going upstairs,” said the source.
He said video footage of the incident shows Mdlolo leaving the main court entrance at 9.17am.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said all the circumstances surrounding Mdlolo’s escape from the court cells were being investigated.
“Anyone who might have assisted him to escape will face criminal charges,” he added.
A Katlehong man, who had arrived in the morning for the sentencing, was apprehensive about breaking the news to his aunt.
“I am not well at all… what if he (goes after the victims) or starts breaking into other females’ homes?” the relative asked.
The man’s aunt testified previously how her teenage daughter was raped moments before her 22-year-old son was killed at her Klipspruit home in the early hours of August 20, 2012.
She said Mdlolo took cellphones and money during the robbery, before raping 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,” she said at the time, adding that the man then removed a condom from his pocket.
The witness told the court that an armed Mdlolo shot and killed her son as he arrived home from a friend’s house during the attack.
Another victim, who contacted The Star after hearing about the escape on Tuesday, said she was traumatised.
“I really feel disappointed. My mom is not well after hearing the news… our lives are in danger. We are finished,” she said.
On Tuesday, Moonsamy and defence advocate Buhle Madondo requested Judge Maluleka to adjourn the matter to January 27 in the hope that Mdlolo would have been arrested by then.
The judge issued a warrant of arrest. A charge of escape from custody has now been added.
Mdlolo was arrested on December 1, 2012 at his Nancefield hostel room shortly after one of his victims used the BlackBerry Protect application to trace her cellphone. Mdlolo fell through the roof where he had been hiding when police came to arrest him.