Soshanguve serial rapist sentenced to five life terms and 651 years in jail

The Pretoria High Court has sentenced Neo Clifford Mashilo, 31, from Soshanguve, to five life terms and 651 years of direct imprisonment, for 45 charges.

He was given five life terms and 95 years’ direct imprisonment for 10 counts of rape, 260 years’ direct imprisonment for 13 counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, 255 years’ indirect imprisonment for 17 counts of housebreaking,10 years’ direct imprisonment for attempted murder, 10 years’ direct imprisonment for attempted robbery, 10 years’ direct imprisonment for theft of a motor vehicle and 10 years’ direct imprisonment for possession of an unlicensed semi-automatic firearm, as well as one-year direct imprisonment for possession of ammunition.

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The judge also ordered that his name be added to the National Register for Sexual Offenders.

Mashilo modus operandi

According to NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, between 2016 and 2019, Mashilo used the same modus operandi, where he would break into the complainants’ houses, rob them of their belongings and rape females from those houses.

During this period, he broke into 17 households late at night, around block P in Soshanguve. He sometimes raped his victims in the presence of their children, and the oldest of his victims was an 80-year-old woman.

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Mashilo was arrested on 13 July 2019, in Hammanskraal after a case of attempted murder was opened against him.

In court, Mashilo pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against him and asked the court, through his legal representative, to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence, because he had been in custody since his arrest.

Guilty plea

His legal representative told the court that Mashilo was a first-time offender and did not waste the court’s time, by pleading guilty.

However, in aggravation, prosecutor Advocate Thembile Nyakama, handed in 8 victim impact statements, where the victims expressed how the incidents have emotionally, mentally, and financially impacted them.

Nyakama further told the court that Mashilo earned his living by committing these offences and that even though he pleaded guilty, he did not show any remorse, because he did not say sorry to the victims through his legal representative.

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She also told the court that there are no substantial and compelling circumstances and when sentencing Mashilo, the court should send a clear message that there is no room for criminals in our society.

When handing down the sentence, the judge agreed with the state that Mashilo showed a lack of remorse and did not appreciate the gravity of his actions.

Mashilo was known to some of his victims, therefore betraying their trust. It was found that there were no compelling and substantial circumstances to deviate from the prescribed sentences.