A PASTOR from Eastern Cape has been sentenced to six life terms for human trafficking and rape.
Apostle Hlumelo Dywili from Mandela location in Mthatha was sentenced by the Mthatha High Court sitting in Bizana Magistrates Court, on Wednesday, 31 August.
He was arrested in February last year.
According to NPA spokesman Luxolo Tyali, between July and August last year, Dywili used his Facebook account and local community radio station to lure victims under false pretences. He would promise them jobs at his church.
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One of his victims travelled from Cape Town. Upon arrival, she was raped by the pastor before she was kept at a base in Mbizana the following day. The other three were fetched in Mthatha with promises of job offers.
According to the Hawks, the victims, aged between 23 and 25, were raped repeatedly on the same day.
“In one instance, one victim was forced to watch the pastor rape the other two.
“During trial, he pleaded not guilty, claiming that the sexual intercourse was consensual and all victims were his girlfriends,” said Tyali.
During sentencing, Judge Richard Brooks said Dywili was not remorseful and had used his position as a pastor to prey on desperate young women.
He was also sentenced to an additional five years on a charge of compelling and causing a person to witness a sexual offence.
The sentences will run concurrently.
