There’s a Xhosa saying that goes ‘ugwetywe udilika jele’, which is loosely translated to mean a person will be in jail until the actual prison walls collapse.
Xolani Gcelu (34) has received one such sentence.
Xolani, who is aware of his HIV-positive status, went on a raping spree between March 2016 and June 2019 where he targeted young women between the ages of 17 and 26 years at the neighbouring villages of Sidwadweni and Zandukwana near the district of Tsolo.
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“His modus operandi was to threaten the women with a knife and take them to secluded areas or unfinished building structures where he would rape and rob them of their belongings, including cell phones and cash. He was linked to all the rape charges through DNA, as all the victims immediately reported their attacks and were thus, timely referred for medical attention,” the Mthatha High Court heard.
Xolani was arrested after he attacked two women.
While threatening them with a knife, the court heard, he raped them while forcing them to perform sexual acts on one another. Even though they did not know Gcelu, they managed to describe him to their older brothers who traced and handed him to the police.
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During trial, he challenged the procedure followed when buccal samples were collected from him DNA comparison. He further claimed that he was in romantic relationships with five of the victims and had bought liquor for others in exchange for sex.
Judge Buyiswa Majiki found that Xolani was not a truthful witness and she further said here were no substantial and compelling circumstances for deviating from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment terms for the rapes.
Xolani was sentenced to life for each of the nine counts of rape and an additional 158 years for his four-year reign of raping, kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder.
