He was further found guilty on two counts of assault with the intend to inflict grievously bodily harm.

All the incidents occurred around Ga-Moshaka Village in the Bolubedu Policing area outside Tzaneen during 2016.

Tshwale received a life sentence for raping a woman (28). He was also found guilty on two counts of assault with the intent to cause grievously bodily harm that involved a woman (30).

“On 24 September 2016 the accused allegedly met a 30-year-old woman in the streets who had accompanied her friends home. He then dragged the victim to his homestead and along the way  he severely assaulted her with a panga. On arrival to his homestead he further assaulted the victim with the same weapon. The victim’s desperate plea for help attracted the attention of community members who rushed to the house. They found the shaken woman profoundly bleeding but the accused had already fled the scene,” Constable Maphure Manamela said

“On 25 September the accused found a 28-year old woman fetching water at a stream and threatened her with a knife. He dragged the victim to nearby bushes and repeatedly raped her. Subsequent to these attacks, cases of assault including of rape were opened. They were then assigned to Detective Sergeant Glenda Mathebula from the Tzaneen Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offence Unit (FCS) for further investigations,” Manamela said.

The accused was tracked down and arrested shortly after these incidents.

The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo,  Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba, has commended the investigating team, especially the member handling this case for working tirelessly to ensure this hardened criminal is removed from the society.