Durban - A Mozambique national who promised women jobs and then lured them to secluded bushy areas in Ballito and Tinley Manor, north of Durban, where he raped and robbed them was sentenced to life imprisonment and a further 67 years in jail.
The sentences will run concurrently with the life imprisonment term.
Frans Mahuman, who is in the country illegally, was also sentenced to one year imprisonment for this crime on Wednesday.
Handing down his sentence in the Durban High Court, Judge Graham Lopes expressed concern that Mahuman, who was convicted on 12 counts of rape, robbery and attempted rape, had earlier been arrested in connection with three of the rapes and an attempted rape, yet when he was released on bail he committed further crimes.
Mahuman spent at least six months in prison awaiting trial in 2016.
Detective Warrant Officer Deepa Naidoo linked the cases to the serial rapist using Mahuman DNA samples.
Naidoo was able to positively link him to five rape cases, including those he had committed after he was released. Judge Lopes said the months he spent in custody awaiting trial should have been a warning, but he had continued with his crimes.
“He probably thought he was untouchable after his release in 2017. He knew what he had done and the consequences, but he ignored all this. In a space of two weeks he committed two other counts,” Judge Lopes said.
Mahuman had raped his last victim more than once for which the minimum prescribed sentence was life imprisonment, Judge Lopes said.
He could find no reasons to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.
For the rape and robberies of three women, Judge Lopes sentenced him to 13 years imprisonment on each count.
For the reasons that Mahuman was a first offender and with the evidence that he had raped them once, Judge Lopes sentenced him to 13 years for the rape and robbery of his first three victims and 12 years for attempted rape and robbery.
He was sentenced to 15 years for the rape and robbery of the last woman he raped.
His attorney Nkosingiphile Mlotshwa argued extensively on why the court should hand down the same sentence for the charges he committed after he was released. He said the court should also consider the fact that he was a first offender and argued for 10 years imprisonment on each count.
Mlotshwa told the court Mahuman came to South Africa in 2005 and worked for a construction company in Johannesburg. He relocated to KwaDukuza four years ago.
Senior State advocate Noxolo Dube said Mahuman had preyed on “defenceless and innocent women” who were desperate for employment.
Judge Lopes said it was an important factor that he was a first offender; however, his crimes were serious and a pandemic in society.
“You preyed on innocent women not only in the sexual offences you committed, you also preyed on their vulnerability. In each case you gave them hope that they would be able to get employment and have purpose in life,” Judge Lopes said. He said Mahuman had shown no remorse.