Man confesses to raping 11 girls

Cape Town 20-08-2012 Soyisiso Athwell Notemete is appearing in the CapeTown High court on charges of rape and murder Pix Patrick Louw story Mandi

Cape Town 20-08-2012 Soyisiso Athwell Notemete is appearing in the CapeTown High court on charges of rape and murder Pix Patrick Louw story Mandi

Published Aug 21, 2012

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Cape Town - A Khayelitsha man has been convicted of multiple counts of rape, abduction and murder after admitting in court to luring his victims to a nearby bush with the promise of chips and sweets, before raping them.

Soyiso Nofemele confessed in the Western Cape High Court on Monday.

He admitted that he had kidnapped 12 girls and raped 11 of them, one twice, aged between two and eight, between April 2010 and September last year.

Nofemele pleaded guilty to 12 counts of rape, 12 counts of abduction and one of murder.

In his plea explanation, he told the court that he spotted the girls and concocted different stories so that they would follow him. Nofemele saw the first victim, aged seven, as he walked past a park in Khayelitsha.

“I called her and asked her to show me where the shop was. When I called her, my intention was to have sex with her. She went with me, showed me where the shop was and then I said we have to get money,” Nofemele said. “I took her to the bush and had sex with her and when I was done, I showed her the way out. I left her there.”

In the case of each of the 11 victims, Nofemele saw them playing close to their homes, abducted them and raped them. One of the girls, aged five, was raped vaginally and anally.On September 12 last year, during Nofemele’s second-last attack, he admitted to abducting, raping and murdering another five-year-old girl.

In his plea explanation, Nofemele said further that he choked the little girl because she would not stop crying.

After a while, when she did stop, he realised that she was dead.

“I was so shocked I left her there in the bush and ran away,” he said.

A week later, Nofemele abducted another girl; she was six. He again lured her to the bush with the intention of raping her but before he could, he heard a man’s voice. Behind the man was a group of “angry” community members calling Nofemele’s name. Nofemele fled.

Soon afterwards, police arrested him. His blood was drawn and DNA specimens found on some of the girls matched that of Nofemele.

Judge Thandazwa Ndita said she was satisfied that Nofemele met the legal requirements in his plea and convicted him on all 25 counts.

The prosecution called the parents of two victims to testify. First, the mother of the youngest victim testified that her daughter, who was two at the time of the offence, was struggling to cope with what had happened to her.

“She isn’t all right. She narrates what happened. She will never forget it,” said the mother, whose identity is being withheld.

The father of the five-year-old girl who was killed said his family was badly affected by the murder. He said his wife tried to commit suicide twice after they found their daughter’s body.

Closing arguments are expected on Tuesday.

Cape Argus

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