Cape Town - Leonard Mzingeli has been convicted in the Western Cape High Court for the attempted murder of a woman he stabbed more than 20 times while he was raping her.
Mzingeli was charged on four counts for the murder and rape of 17-year-old Amahle Quku as well as the attempted murder and rape of another woman eight months prior to his attack on Quku.
Acting Judge Nolundi Nyati found him guilty on all counts after State advocate Renee Uys managed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Mzingeli made little attempt to give any explanation for his crimes. He abandoned his bail and further chose to remain silent during the trial, opting not to testify in his own defence.
The version proffered by Mzingeli through his lawyer Michael Sibueng was that he had loving relationships with both women and had consensual sex with them on separate occasions.
At the outset Mzingeli pleaded guilty and admitted that he killed Quku by choking her with his hands and then dragging her body close to a dam in Browns Farm, Philippi, in the early hours of June 20, 2020.
In handing down judgment on Tuesday Judge Nyati said: “The fact that the accused claimed that he had consensual sex with both victims on the same day that they were raped and killed (almost in the case of the survivor) is not a coincidence, it is the accused just trying to cover up his gruesome inhumane deeds.”
Nyati commended the evidence of the rape survivor who bravely testified in court about her ordeal, saying: “(The woman) was an impressive witness, she gave crisp and clear evidence about the identification of the person who attacked her on that day ... She was not shaken and did not deviate from her version even though the defence asked questions to cast doubt on her evidence.”
The woman had testified that on October 26, 2019, Mzingeli attacked her while she was on her way to a local shop in Sinyagena informal settlement.
She said that Mzingeli tripped her from behind and raped her while he was holding a knife to her neck. He then slit her throat and repeatedly stabbed her. When she tried to escape he followed her, stabbed her in the stomach and left her for dead.
Nyati said: “Judging by the multiple injuries and the persistent attack on the woman and the fact that he left her for dead, it is clear that the accused also had the intention to kill her.”
Of Mzingeli’s choice to remain silent, she said: “His decision does not exonerate him from the the legal consequences of his decision not to put his side of the story.”
The date for sentencing is yet to be confirmed.
