Thohoyandou - A man was this week sentenced in a Thohoyandou court to three terms of life imprisonment for raping two women, Limpopo police said on Saturday.
In a concerted effort to deal with sexual offences head-on, Limpopo police continued to secure lengthy jail terms in various courts through the hard work, skilful, and professional investigation teams of the family violence, child protection, and sexual offences (FCS) units, Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said.
Kgotso Dzhivhuwo, 37, was this week sentenced in the Dzanani Regional Court at Thohoyandou to three life imprisonment terms for rape, he said.
A 38-year-old woman from Mawoni village was raped by Dzhivhuwo while she was on her way home from work at 7.30pm on November 23, 2013.
Kgotso approached the victim "as if he wanted to accompany her, but she was just not amused when a stone struck her face". She fell down and he dragged her to nearby bushes and threatened her before raping her. He then dragged the victim to another spot where he again repeatedly raped her.
On March 14, 2015, a 27-year-old woman from Makongodza village was also raped by Dzhivhuwo. She was walking along the street with a family member and a friend at about 7.20pm when Dzhivhuwo suddenly hit her with a stone. She fell down and injured her leg. The two people she was with ran away and he dragged her to nearby bushes, threatened her with a knife, and raped her. While he was busy, he heard voices calling the victim. He stopped and fled the scene, Ngoepe said
Limpopo police commissioner Lt-Gen Nneke Jim Ledwaba applauded the investigating teams which tackled these cases and ensured the rapist was arrested and subsequently "sent to jail forever".
"This sentencing came handy to the society in general, as we are currently in the 16 Days of Activism for no violence against women and children. We hope that this long incarceration will bring relief to his victims and it will also serve as a deterrent to all the rapists and rapists-to-be out there that crime does not pay," Ledwaba said.