EDITORIAL | Pretoria serial rapist’s punishment must set a precedent

“Throw away the key.” This was one of the comments from a Sunday Times Daily reader on our article this week about the conviction of Tshwane serial rapist Sello Abram Mapunya, the 33-year-old father of two young children.

His five-year reign of terror in and around the capital saw him convicted of 41 rapes and 40 house burglaries and robberies. His youngest victim was 14 years old, the eldest 55. The only woman who dared to take a peek at his face was hit on the head with a hammer before being raped. One of his victims became HIV-positive after he raped her.

Mapunya was back in court for sentencing on Thursday and high court judge Papi Mosopa condemned him to a lifetime of darkness.

Our journalist in the courtroom reported how Mapunya stomped off like an angry toddler after hearing he had been sentenced to 1,088 years behind bars: 988 years’ imprisonment, plus five life sentences. Mapunya will never again see the sun rise outside incarceration.

Mosopa’s sentence should set a precedent for our courts. The judge made a point of saying the terms behind bars would not run concurrently because the crimes were committed on different occasions over a five-year period. But what he really did was allow the punishment to reflect the gravity of the crime.  

Crimes against women and children have reached alarming proportions. Women are no longer free to walk the streets without fear of being raped or robbed. They are no longer safe in their own homes.

—  Judge Papi Mosopa

“The sentence I am imposing will show others that women’s bodies are not commodities and cannot be abused with impunity,” he said.

Mosopa, who described Mapunya and his deeds as evil, said he wanted the sentence to be a lesson to “others out there who think that they can prey on society’s most vulnerable”.

“Crimes against women and children have reached alarming proportions. Women are no longer free to walk the streets without fear of being raped or robbed. They are no longer safe in their own homes.

“It took police, through the use of modern technology, five years to catch you. Society’s last hope is the courts. Society has to be able to rely on this court to ensure that this evil is now removed. Your lawlessness ends now.”

Earlier this month, police minister Bheki Cele released the crime statistics for the first three months of the year: between January and March 9,518 people were raped. We should hang our heads in shame.

We should, however, also allow ourselves to pause for a moment and take some solace from events in court this week. The police did hunt Mapunya down and the judge overseeing his trial beamed a flicker of hope into the war against gender-based violence.

“It’s a miracle,” one his victims said after the sentencing. “I am free. We are all free.”