Johannesburg - A 17-year-old girl is still haunted by Mpho Rakgwale, a serial rapist.
This was her testimony on Tuesday in the Gauteng Division of the High Court, sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, in aggravation of sentencing.
She was just one of six victims - most of whom were minors when they were raped. She testified in person on Tuesday, calling for a harsh sentence for Rakgwale.
In February, Rakgwale pleaded guilty to 61 charges, including 21 of rape and 17 of kidnapping.
Prosecutor Shubnum Singh asked the 17-year-old, who was 15 when Rakgwale raped her, if she could read her statement to the court herself, or if she needed help.
“I can read it myself. In fact, I want to read it myself,” she said.
“You are haunting me, I can hear your words everywhere I go,” the 17-year-old said.
She then said she finds it difficult that no one understands what she has gone through. “I still cry in my sleep, I feel pain,” she said as she broke down in tears and could not continue.
Before the victims testified, Rakgwale - dressed in a blue and white floral shirt and bowtie - began the day by personally addressing the court, which was packed with several of his victims. “I would like to apologise to the victims and their parents and the community,” he said.
Rakgwale’s legal representative, advocate Sindisa Hlazo, said his client’s mother died when he was 7, and because his father was not involved with his upbringing, Rakgwale went to live with his maternal grandmother.
He passed matric, but he and his grandmother could not afford tertiary education, and with no skills or qualifications, he struggled to find work.
Hlazo said Rakgwale’s apology and the fact that he had pleaded guilty showed his client was remorseful.
However, the six victims who testified in court - another five submitted statements that were read out by Singh - were largely unmoved by the apology.
Sentencing was postponed to November 21.
The Star