Madadeni - A serial rapist in the Mondlo area was sentenced to five 25-year imprisonment terms this week, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Saturday.
Thobani Elvis Mthethwa, 28, was convicted and sentenced in the Madadeni High Court on five counts of rape he committed in the Mondlo area in 2014 and 2015, Lt-Col Thulani Zwane said.
Mthethwa accosted his victims, aged between 15 and 55, at their homes and raped them, threatening them with a knife and a firearm.
He targeted homesteads where only women was present, breaking in and raping them mostly at gunpoint. Four of the victims were threatened with a firearm while the other was threatened with a knife.
A 15-year-old victim was seven-months pregnant when she was raped. Cases of rape were opened at Mondlo police station and transferred to Vryheid family violence, child protection, and sexual offences unit for investigation.
Mthethwa was linked to the crimes through his DNA and was positively identified by the victims during an identification parade. He pleaded guilty to all counts and was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for each rape. The sentences would run concurrently, Zwane said.