The Johannesburg high court on Friday sentenced serial rapist Musa Maicana to three life terms plus more than 300 years in prison for a spate of rapes committed in and around Thembisa on the East Rand from April 2014 to June 2019.
Maicana, 27, was charged with 43 counts, ranging from rape, kidnapping, pointing a firearm, robbery with aggravating circumstances, to possession of a dangerous weapon.
“The South African Police Service had registered more than 12 dockets with the same modus operandi where women were attacked on their way home in the streets of Norkem Park and Thembisa,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said.
The women could not identify the perpetrator as he accosted them from behind and threatened them with a firearm or knife to force them into secluded areas where he would rob them of their belongings, then rape them.
“The accused was arrested for a Thembisa rape case in June 2019 when the investigating officer, Sgt Lesford Mangwale, managed to link him to 12 more cases through DNA.”
Mjonondwane said senior state advocate Adele de Klerk pleaded with the court to show no mercy to the accused as he displayed a total disregard for the dignity and physical integrity of the victims he assaulted.
“The NPA, in collaboration with its partners within the criminal justice cluster, continues to make significant strides in tackling violent crimes and continues with its aggressive stance against the scourge of gender-based violence.”
She said these convictions and sentences provided some justice and closure to the victims and their families and removed violent criminals from the streets.
TimesLIVE
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