‘No parent gives birth to a rapist’

Published Nov 9, 2014

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Durban - No parent gives birth to a serial rapist. No family raises a son so that he grows up to violate women.

These were the words of Sibongile Mathebula, 26, the sister of Mhlonishwa Mathebula, the man jailed for 315 years for raping 18 women over a five-year period.

They capture the deep anguish facing the family as he walked into prison this week, without the possibility of a return trip home.

The Mathebulas live in a one-bedroom mud house and a one-bedroom RDP house. This is where one of the most feared men on the South Coast lived.

As a boy Mathebula was gentle, jocular and caring.

“He cared deeply for the family and his three children. He did his best to share his disability grant with us. Even when he was on the run, whenever he sneaked into the house, he would scold us if he found our mother alone and give us whatever money he had.”

She said her brother lost his arm while climbing a high-voltage lamp poll near their home.

The family, Sibongile said, was still reeling with shock and disbelief at the “monster” Mathebule turned out to be.

She said they knew they no longer enjoyed much respect in the community, but she was hopeful that time would heal his victims and the communities ravaged by his crimes.

“Mhlonishwa has done horrible things to innocent people. He has hurt and destroyed many lives. As a family we are relieved that he is in jail and that our girls, sisters and mothers are free from his terrible deeds. We wish the communities affected by his actions find peace and forgive us as a family.”

Before Mathebula was sentenced he called his family, asking if they could come and see him, perhaps for the last time. Unfortunately, no one in the family is employed and the social grant Sibongile receives was simply too little to allow her to travel 15km to the court in Scottburgh to bid her brother farewell.

It’s not the first time the Mathebulas have found themselves at odds with the community. In 1990 their father, Themba, was brutally killed in what is believed to have been a politically, muti-driven murder.

“We never buried our dear father. His body was burnt and we were never allowed to fetch his ashes and whatever was left of his broken bones,” says Sibongile.

The family has not found peace since his death and have never performed a single ritual for his spirit to stop wandering and cast doom on the family.

“We still bleed deep within our hearts for our father. We think his spirit is troubling the whole family and our mother got mentally disturbed not long after he died. We think we are facing the wrath of our ancestors and we need help to make peace with them.”

- Sunday Tribune

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