Court hears of Tshepisong gang’s reign of terror

Raped and murdered, allegedly for nothing more than a cellphone, Sannah Mathapeno Baloyi was just one of 11 women the state says a gang of men targeted during their almost year-long reign of terror in the community of Tshepisong in Kagiso.

Nine of the men are currently standing trial in the High Court in Johannesburg and will soon know their fate, with closing arguments set down for tomorrow.

As it stands, Thomas Tivane, Makamu Mapedje, Alex Mabuya, Boavida Chilengue, Cito Vicente Maguele, Jordan Marcmiano Bila, Antonio Joao Timbe, George Mabunda and Jeremias Alberto Sithole are in custody, facing a raft of crimes – including murder, rape, attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery and racketeering.

The latter because, according to the state, the accused “were an association, in fact, with the intention to engage in the kidnapping, robbing, assaulting, raping and murdering of their victims”.

The state’s case is that the men were motivated by money and between November 2015 and August 2016, “prowled” the streets of Tshepisong, in search of victims.

“Victims would be kidnapped and taken to a secluded area nearby. They were assaulted, raped and robbed of their belongings. The kidnappings, rapes, assaults and murder resulted from (the) increasingly violent actions of the accused,” the indictment reads.

It is alleged that they used a range of weapons – such as guns, knives, knobkerries, broomsticks and pangas – and that in some instances, they assaulted and robbed men too.

In one case, a couple was attacked. They tried to run but they were caught. The man was beaten and robbed of a schoolbag, R750 in cash, two pairs of shoes, two cellphones, a pair of trousers, a T-shirt, an ID book and a bank card before he managed to escape.

The woman was pushed to the ground and repeatedly raped. Afterwards, she was told to run and not to look back.

Baloyi – one of the final victims, according to the state – was on her way home when she was attacked.

The state alleges Maguele and at least one unidentified accomplice pinned the 50-year-old woman to the ground and hit her on the head with an “unknown hard object” over and over again, before robbing her of her cellphone and then raping her.

“The deceased lost consciousness and when she regained consciousness, the accused and his accomplice(s) had fled the scene.”

Baloyi managed to make her way home to her husband, who immediately rushed her off to hospital. But despite his efforts, she died two months later.

The cause of death was “consistent with blunt force head injury complicated by pneumonia”.

Closing arguments were set down for yesterday but they were postponed, at the request of the state.

– news@citizen.co.za

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