'Ekurhuleni serial rapist' pleads guilty to 148 charges, including 93 rape cases

Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi's youngest alleged victim was 12 years old

02 November 2022 - 08:54 By Mpho Koka
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Nkosinathi Phakathi is accused of terrorising women and girls in Ekurhuleni for nine years. File photo.
Nkosinathi Phakathi is accused of terrorising women and girls in Ekurhuleni for nine years. File photo.
Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE

On Tuesday a suspected serial rapist from Ekurhuleni pleaded guilty to all charges he is facing in the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court.

Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi, 32, is facing 148 charges, including rape, sexual assault, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, theft and possession of an unlicensed firearm.

Phakathi was initially facing 203 charges but National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the state dropped 55 charges against him, taking the count of charges to 148. 

Prosecutor Salome Scheepers said Phakathi is linked to at least 93 rape cases.

The Pretoria high court trial sitting in Palm Ridge resumes on Wednesday for Phakathi’s guilty plea statement to be read in court through his lawyer, advocate Letau Kgobane.

Phakathi, from Daveyton on the East Rand, has been in a prison hospital since his arrest in March last year. He was shot in the leg when he allegedly fled from police officers who had come to arrest him. His leg has since been amputated.

Phakathi allegedly terrorised women within the Ekurhuleni metro for nine years. He was arrested at Barcelona section in Etwatwa.

His alleged rape spree dates back to 2012, with victims aged between 12 and 20, in the east of Benoni, including Daveyton, Putfontein and Crystal Park.

Phakathi has been kept at a prison hospital at Modderbee Correctional Services Centre.

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