Potchefstroom - A convicted rapist has been sentenced in the Bafokeng Regional Court in Tlhabane in the North West to eight life imprisonment terms and an additional 25 years for committing a number of rapes in 2014, police in the province said.
During the court proceedings, the court heard how Matsile Tidimalo Pasca, 35, lured his victims while pretending to safeguard them at night, Lt-Col Pelenomi Makau said in a statement.
All his victims were on their way home after a night out and hitchhiked on the R104 between Rustenburg towards Tlhabane.
In the first incident at about 1.30am on Sunday March 21, 2014, two women, aged 18 and 19, were hitchhiking to Phokeng. Pasca convinced them to join him on foot, as he was going in the same direction. He further assured them they need not worry, as he was in possession of a firearm.
Once on their way, he threatened them with the firearm, took them to a nearby park in Bester in Tlhabane, and raped both of them numerous times at gunpoint. The following day, March 22, he followed the same modus operandi to rape two other women, aged 18 and 22. In both cases he also robbed the victims of their personal belongings, including cellphones and cash.
Pasca managed to evade arrest, "but good investigations done by Captain Mokgatlhe Mokgatlhe paid off when he was arrested in September 2014". He was not granted bail by the court and was held in custody since his arrest.
Earlier this week, Pasca was sentenced after being found guilty on 10 counts of rape and two counts of armed robbery with aggravating circumstances. He was sentenced to eight life imprisonment terms plus 25 years. The sentence would run concurrently, Makau said.
North West police commissioner Lt-Gen Sello Kwena welcomed the sentence and commended the Investigating officer on a job done well. The sentence would send a strong message that police would continue to work hard to bring perpetrators to book, Kwena said.