Father of six behind bars for life after brutal rape spree in Cape Town

Six women have been commended for their bravery testifying against a serial rapist who subjected them to harrowing ordeals at gunpoint, sometimes in a cemetery, in Delft, Cape Town. 

Father of six Lungile Buhlungu, 40, was sentenced by the high court in Cape Town on Wednesday to six life terms on six counts of rape and 50 years' imprisonment for his reign of terror between 2014 and 2019.

The court also ordered correctional services to send Buhlungu for psychological evaluation to determine if he would benefit from psychological intervention available to the department for his sexual behaviour, and if so, to implement it. 

The six rape victims testified during an emotional trial in camera to protect their identity and avoid secondary victimisation, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila. 

“The first three women were raped in Delft on the evening of July 11 2014 after the accused and his accomplice, who were both armed, confronted them. They forced them at gunpoint into the bushes and took turns raping them.” The victims were released in the early hours of the next day. 

“The accused raped the fourth victim on the evening of October 5 2017. She was attacked while walking home and woke up in hospital with a wound on the right side of her head and her right eye was red. She was found by a motorist lying naked at the local graveyard. She knows the accused as they lived in the same informal settlement in Delft. She had to leave the province to escape the traumatic environment,” said Ntabazalila. 

“The other two women were raped on the evening of May 12 2018 when they were taken by a vehicle to the Delft graveyard and raped at gunpoint. The incident hurt them as their relationships have not been the same after their ordeal.”

Buhlungu pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed he was imprisoned at Pollsmoor in 2014 and knew nothing about the allegations. He claimed the 2017 incident was consensual sex in his shack. He denied raping the two women in 2018 and suggested the sex was by consent. 

He was arrested in 2019 and linked to the rapes through DNA.

Senior prosecutor advocate Esna Erasmus led evidence by Lt-Col Elmarie Alta Myburgh, an expert on sexual offences investigations, sexual and violence risk assessment, forensic sex crimes investigations and the assessment and management of stalking. She testified there was a risk that Buhlungu would reoffend again. 

“Erasmus argued that each [offence] should receive a life sentence on the respective dates the crimes were committed. It was clear that the harrowing, degrading and traumatic experience they [victims] endured had a profound, adverse emotional effect on them,” said Ntabazalila. 

“The complainants are still plagued with nightmares. They cried during the trial as they faced their rapist. Their bravery should be commended as this has led not only to the conviction of a serial rapist but also to protecting the community and women from the spree of destruction by the accused,” he added.

Buhlungu was convicted on six counts of rape, two counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, four counts of kidnapping, a count of robbery with aggravating circumstances and a count of illegal possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for each rape count, five years for each count of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, five years for each count of kidnapping, 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances and five years for illegal possession of a firearm. 

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