Johannesburg -
They flocked to court, hoping to see for the last time the man who had raped them before he could start his prison sentence.
Some were even hoping that as they sat there, looking at him, serial rapist Albert Morake would at least apologise for everything he had done to them and the trauma he put them and their families through.
For years, Morake and an accomplice terrorised the communities of Tembisa, Ivory Park, Olievenhoutbosch, Kaalfontein, Rabie Ridge and Olifantsfontein, targeting couples.
The men would be tied up while he and his accomplice raped the women.
Last week, he was found guilty on, among others, 30 counts of rape and 42 of kidnapping.
His accomplice is still at large.
Despite the convictions, Morake remained defiant to the end.
Taking the stand to testify in mitigation of sentence on Tuesday in the high court sitting in Palm Ridge, Morake told the court he had heard how the women had testified about the pain of being raped, robbed and assaulted.
He said he felt sorry for them, but added that they were lying in pointing him out as their attacker.
Asked why his DNA was found in some of the women, Morake said he had consensual sex with them. Some were disgruntled former lovers.
A victim, 34-year-old Lauren*, could only stare at him, shell-shocked.
“I am so angry, I wanted to slap him.
I was hoping he would take this chance to tell the truth and apologise because he destroyed many people’s lives, but we did not even get an apology,” she said outside court.
“I am a Christian and want to forgive him, not for him but for myself. But how can I begin the process when he still denies everything?” asked Lauren.
It has been three years since Morake raped *Martha. However, the 38-year-old still battles to cope.
“He took a piece of my body that I can never get back. He should have rather killed me because I can’t live with the fact that I was raped,” she said.
*Diketso was five months pregnant when Morake and an accomplice hijacked her and her boyfriend as they stopped at an intersection.
She begged Morake not to rape her as she was pregnant.
However, her plea fell on deaf ears.
“He could see that my tummy was big, but he did not care. I wish someone could get into my heart and see what I go through every day. I hate him and I don’t want him to die. I want him to suffer the way all his victims suffered and the way he also made our men suffer. Whenever I look at my daughter, I am reminded of that day.”
While Diketso wants Morake to suffer, Busi* wants to kill him.
Morake and an accomplice raped her after attacking her as she stood with a young man who was interested in being in a relationship with her.
The relationship never took off.
Morake will be sentenced on February 19.
* Not their real names
The Star