'Rose Garden Rapist' considered a 'high risk'

Frank McKenzie was once dubbed the Rose Garden Rapist. Picture: Jack Lestrade/ANA

Frank McKenzie was once dubbed the Rose Garden Rapist. Picture: Jack Lestrade/ANA

Published Feb 6, 2018

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Cape Town - A convicted serial rapist who said he was fed up of being under house arrest can forget about getting a pardon, the Department of Correctional Services said on Monday.

Frank McKenzie, 65, who was dubbed the “Rose Garden Rapist” four decades ago, who said last week he wants government to scrap the final four years of his sentence, which he is serving under house arrest.

McKenzie, who lives in Retreat, claimed he had turned over a new leaf and wants to be free to search for his family, whom he hasn’t seen in decades.

He had already served 16 years of his 20-year sentence.

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According to him, he is not a “real rapist” because he didn’t stalk his victims.

Instead, he says the women - all young and white - were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, while he was busy committing other crimes.

In 2001, the self-confessed serial rapist shocked South Africa when he handed himself over to Milnerton police for crimes he had committed more than two decades earlier.

The then 49-year-old retrenched racehorse groom confessed to a range of crimes, including the rape of a young woman in the rose garden at larney Kelvin Grove in Newlands, and the burglary of the home of heart surgeon Marius Barnard, the brother of heart surgeon Chris Barnard.

Police said the crimes were committed between 1973 and 1985, between stints in jail.

In 1981, McKenzie overpowered a man near Wynberg station and sodomised, then robbed him.

Mckenzie said he regrets his life of crime and should not be punished for the rest of his life.

“I do feel ashamed for what I have done and I felt most ashamed when I got out of prison,” he said.

“I cannot endure another four years of house arrest. It stresses me out. I lost my family, and I want to find my wife, my children,” he moaned.

However, spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services, Simphiwe Xako, says McKenzie is classified as “high risk” and that it was highly unlikely that he will be pardoned.

He said McKenzie is allowed to leave his residence for work. But the convicted rapist told the Daily Voice he was currently unemployed.

“He is under confined monitoring and classified as high risk category,” said Xako, who also added: “He is currently employed and his working hours are from 6am until 4pm Monday until Saturday (travelling time included). His free time is on Sundays from 8am until 12pm.”

He confirmed McKenzie’s sentence ends in 2021, and that he previously tried to get a pardon.

“The Presidential Pardoning is highly unlikely to succeed before completion of sentence and such matters were previously dealt with when the offender(s) were sentenced to life long parole."

Daily Voice

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