A serial rapist in Limpopo has been sentenced to an effective 20 years in jail.
The Polokwane high court on Monday sentenced Lucky Kgahledi Raphela, 44, from Namakgale, after he pleaded guilty to four counts of rape.
In his plea agreement, Raphela said between January 16 2018 and November 7 2021 he offered adult women a lift as they were hitchhiking in Phalaborwa.
“He would then drive [to] nearby bushes and threaten them with a knife before raping them. The victims are not known to each other and the accused was linked through DNA to the offences,” National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said.
In aggravation of sentence, prosecutor advocate Muneiwa Ratshibvumo said the accused had a previous conviction of escaping from lawful custody.
Raphela was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for each count of rape.
“The court ordered the sentence for count 2 to run concurrently with the sentence in count 1 and the sentence in count 4 to run concurrently with the sentence in count 3. The effective period of imprisonment the accused should serve is therefore 20 years.”
Malabi-Dzhangi said the NPA was pleased with the work done by Ratshibvumo and investigating officer Capt Masangu Mbedzi from the Phalaborwa family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit.
‘We hope perpetrators of such crimes will learn from the sentence.”
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Limpopo serial rapist gets lengthy jail term
The man offered hitchhikers in Phalaborwa a lift in his vehicle before threatening them with a knife and raping them
Image: 123RF/Andriy Popov
A serial rapist in Limpopo has been sentenced to an effective 20 years in jail.
The Polokwane high court on Monday sentenced Lucky Kgahledi Raphela, 44, from Namakgale, after he pleaded guilty to four counts of rape.
In his plea agreement, Raphela said between January 16 2018 and November 7 2021 he offered adult women a lift as they were hitchhiking in Phalaborwa.
“He would then drive [to] nearby bushes and threaten them with a knife before raping them. The victims are not known to each other and the accused was linked through DNA to the offences,” National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said.
In aggravation of sentence, prosecutor advocate Muneiwa Ratshibvumo said the accused had a previous conviction of escaping from lawful custody.
Raphela was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for each count of rape.
“The court ordered the sentence for count 2 to run concurrently with the sentence in count 1 and the sentence in count 4 to run concurrently with the sentence in count 3. The effective period of imprisonment the accused should serve is therefore 20 years.”
Malabi-Dzhangi said the NPA was pleased with the work done by Ratshibvumo and investigating officer Capt Masangu Mbedzi from the Phalaborwa family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit.
‘We hope perpetrators of such crimes will learn from the sentence.”
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Support independent journalism by subscribing to TimesLIVE Premium. Just R80 per month.
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