A 27-year-old serial rapist received three life sentences plus an additional 300 years for a series of rapes he committed in and around Tembisa between April 2014 and June 2019.

Musa Maicana was sentenced on Friday by the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg for 43 counts ranging from rape, kidnapping, pointing of a firearm, robbery with aggravating circumstances, to possession of a dangerous weapon.

This comes after South African Police Service (SAPS) registered more than 12 dockets with the same modus operandi in which women were attacked on their way home in the streets of Norkem Park and Tembisa.  

Phindi Mjonondwane, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, said that the perpetrator approached the women from behind, making identification impossible. He then used a firearm or knife to force them into isolated locations, where he proceeded to rob them of their possessions and rape them.

Mjonondwane said he was arrested in June 2019 when the Investigating Officer, Sergeant Lesford Mangwale, managed to link him to 12 rape cases through DNA.

“Senior State Advocate Adele De Klerk pleaded with the court to show no mercy to the accused as he displayed a total disregard for the dignity and physical integrity of the victims he assaulted. She further stated that the gravity of the facts of this case is of such a nature that it calls for the accused to be removed from society permanently,” said Mjonondwane.

Mjonondwane further stated that the NPA, in partnership with its Criminal Justice Cluster counterparts, is making substantial progress in combating violent crimes and opposing gender-based violence.

“These cases provide some justice and closure to the victims and their families and remove violent criminals from our streets,” she said.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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