Hefty sentence imposed on rapists
One of the suspects was confirmed as the mastermind of all the incidents and was positively linked and sentenced on 22 rape cases.
NELSPRUIT – A duo accused of terrosrising the community of Siyabuswa and surrounding areas were sentenced at the the Pretoria High Court last week.
The accused, Joel Matlala (29) and Vincent Mahlangu (30) were dealt with sternly after the Magistrate heard that they made life very difficult for the community between 2012 and 2014.
Matlala was confirmed as the mastermind of all the incidents and was positively linked and sentenced on 22 rape cases. He targeted women who were walking alone during the night coming from church, work and others from visiting relatives. He would threaten the victims with a firearm and then rape them repeatedly. In some instances, he would call his co-accused, Mahlangu, when he (Matlala) had kidnapped a woman then the duo would take turns raping the victim.
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Most of the victims were raped after Matlala had been released on bail for a similar case. He was re- arrested on March 10, 2015 and was denied bail ever since. Mahlangu was also arrested and formally charged and sentenced on three rape cases. Matlala was granted 22 life sentences which will run concurrently while Mahlangu was granted 10 years for each rape which will also run concurrently.
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