UPDATE: Alleged serial rapist concludes his testimony
The trial has entered its second year.
The trial against the alleged Daveyton/Thembisa serial rapist Sipho Lucas Phiri resumed during a Gauteng Division High Court sitting at the Benoni Magistrate’s Court on August 11.
From August 11 to 18, Phiri’s defence, Advocate Marianne Mampuru, concluded her re-examination of the accused after he started his testimony on July 14, 2025.
Phiri has not denied having sexual encounters with the complainants, maintaining that it was consensual as well as transactional.
“They agreed to having sex with the promise of me securing them employment opportunities, money or acting as their sugar daddy,” Phiri said, giving his testimony in Sepedi through a translator.
After being released from his oath, Phiri thanked presiding Judge Rasigamani Bhika.
“At long last it’s done,” he said as he exited the witness stand.
Mampuru will have until August 28 to call witnesses in the accused’s defence, after which closing arguments will be made.
The trial has entered its second year following the arrest of the former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) security guard on January 22, 2023, in Mayfield, Daveyton.
The Chief Albert Luthuli resident stands accused of 44 counts of rape, allegedly committed between 2018 and 2023, in Thembisa, Norkem Park, Daveyton and Putfontein.
Additional charges include 43 counts of kidnapping, 41 counts of pointing a firearm, and 17 more that include fraud, the obstruction of justice, compelling someone to witness a sexual act, and contravening the Police and Firearms Control Acts.
Since the start of the trial on August 28, 2024, State prosecutor Esther Kabini has called 63 witnesses, including complainants and a representative of the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory in Pretoria (who requested anonymity), to the witness stand.
Samples from rape kits dated between 2018 and 2023 were analysed and compared to Phiri’s, with 21 showing the presence of donor DNA matching that of the accused.
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