THE High Court of South Africa North West Division, sitting in the Klerksdorp Regional Court in the North West, sentenced Johannes Ontsheketse Tshabile to many years in jail.
The 43-year-old Tshabile was sentenced to 11 life sentences for rape, plus 363 years in prison on Friday, 23 February.
The serial rapists also received a cumulative 363 years for other serious charges, including nine other charges of rape, attempted murder, theft, robbery with aggravating circumstances, robbery, attempted robbery, assault, assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, attempted sexual offences and sexual assault.
The offences were committed between 2012 and 2018.
Tshabile, who was on the list of the most wanted criminals in the North West, pleaded not guilty to all the 65 charges he was found guilty of by the court.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesman Henry Mamothame said Tshabile’s conviction stemmed from incidents that took place in Wolmaransstad in the Maquassi district.
Mamothame said Tshabile accosted unsuspecting women on the street.
"He then dragged them to the nearby fields, threatened them with a knife, robbed them and raped them before leaving the scene. In some cases, he strangled them, stabbed them with a knife and attacked them with bricks and other objects before robbing and raping his victims. In some instances, he attacked couples and assaulted their male counterparts before robbing and raping them after they fled," Mamothame said.
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He said among his victims were a 15-year-old girl and a 65-year-old gogo who had to endure the pain in his hands. It also emerged in court that he was accompanied in some incidents by an unknown accomplice who also committed similar offences with him.
He was linked to the offences by DNA samples.
Tshabile was arrested in 2019 after an intensive police investigation and the court denied him bail.
Mamothane said Tshabile also managed to escape from Wolmaransstad Police Station with the help of a cop.
"He was later re-arrested, and the police officer was dismissed from service and charged criminally, and the matter is still pending in court," Mamothane said.
State prosecutor Riekie Krause urged the court not to depart from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment in view of the emotional, physical and psychological trauma suffered by the victims at the hands of Tshabile.
She also urged the court to consider the victims' testimonies in which they describe their ordeal and the trauma they still suffer in their daily lives as a result of the rape and assault.
Judge Tebogo Djadje agreed with the state and pointed out the court's responsibility to protect society from such perpetrators, especially after they had lived in fear for almost six years.
She also described Tshabile as ruthless and having no regard for women and children.
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