Johannesburg – A convicted serial rapist was sentenced to 12 life sentences by the Secunda Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. Sipho Nkosi, 29, was found guilty of 13 counts of rape, three of kidnapping, armed robbery, theft and common assault.
He was sentenced to 12 life sentences for 12 counts of rape, 10 years for another rape, 21 years for three counts of kidnapping, three years for robbery, one year for theft and six months for assault.
Mpumalanga Police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi said Nkosi was also declared unfit to possess a firearm and his particulars will be registered on the list of sex offenders. Nkosi’s reign of terror in Embalenhle, near Secunda started in 2011 and ended with his arrest in June 2014.
"His modus operandi was to prey on teenagers and women between the ages of 13 and 36, in which he would rape and sometimes kidnap, assault and rob them," Hlathi said in a statement.
In September 2011, Nkosi kidnapped a 22-year-old woman from the Free State who had just arrived in Embalenhle visiting her male friend. The woman was walking alone near an open field when he raped and robbed her of her cellphone. The following year, June 2012, Nkosi forcefully grabbed a 20-year-old woman at the township’s main road who was on her way to the mall. He then dragged her to a bridge and raped her.
In March 2014, Nkosi raped a 36-year-old woman who was walking alone at night on her way home. "She managed to free herself and went to the police station to report the case. The suspect was arrested at the scene, got bail and while on bail, two months later in May 2014, he raped a 22-year-old woman under a bridge."
The following month, Nkosi raped a 13-year-old teenager and he was arrested two days later, ending his reign of terror.
In a separate incident, another rapist, Manqoba Nduduzo Mathebula ,28, was senteced to two life sentences for rape as well as 44 years sentence on housebreaking and theft.
The court heard that Mathebula targeted elderly women and teenagers who stayed alone and raped them during 2012 and 2013. In one of the incidents, he repeatedly broke into a house of a 76-year-old elderly woman and raped her.
He also used the same modus operandi where he raped a 26-year-old woman.