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The 40-year-old serial rapist robbed and violated the women at gunpoint in Delft and Mfuleni.
Picture: iStock
The Cape Town High Court has ensured that a serial rapist will spend the rest of his life behind bars by slapping him with six life sentences on Wednesday.
Lungile Buhlungu, 40, was on trial for violating six different women between the ages of 21 and 31 in July 2014, October 2017 and May 2018.
Buhlungu lured, robbed and raped women
According to police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk, Buhlungu lured the women and later robbed and violated them in Delft and Mfuleni townships.
“He lured them by offering them transport, mainly from taverns. Thereafter, he threatened, robbed and raped them at gunpoint,” Van Wyk said.
Buhlungu was first arrested in November 2020 on several non-related charges of rape, kidnapping and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.
During this time, the investigation officer on his case obtained DNA samples, which later positively linked him to the six rape cases he was convicted of on Wednesday.
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He was sentenced as follows:
- Six life terms on the six rape cases;
- Four five-year sentences on each count of kidnapping;
- Five years’ imprisonment for the possession of a firearm;
- 15 years’ imprisonment for robbery aggravated; and
- Five years’ imprisonment for assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, each on two counts.
Buhlungu was also declared unfit to possess a firearm and will serve his lesser sentences concurrently with the life terms.
Officers applauded
The Provincial Commissioner of the Western Cape, Lieutenant General Tembisile Patekile, welcomed the sentences and applauded the investigation of the Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit’s Serial Electronic Crime Investigations Unit.
He said Buhlungu’s conviction was a victory for all the victims who suffered humiliating degradation at the mercy of a cruel man.
“Lengthy jail sentences such as this bring hope to all victims that justice prevails and that the cycle of violence against women and children can and must be broken,” Patekile said.
“The investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Nomabandla Jokazi, Lieutenant Colonel Elmarie Myburg and Advocate Esna Erasmus [of the] National Prosecuting Authority are highly commended for ensuring that Buhlungu never sees the outside of a prison cell for as long as he lives.”
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