A serial rapist who preyed upon woman in the Bergville, Ematsheni and Ladysmith areas was recently convicted.

The Pietermaritzburg High Court sentenced Thokozani Joseph Kubheka (34) to ten life sentences and a total of 202 years’ imprisonment.
Kubheka stood accused of 34 counts which included 16 counts of rape, nine counts of housebreak-in, seven counts of robbery with aggravated circumstances as well as two of kidnapping. Kubheka was a cunning criminal who preyed on Bergville, Ematsheni and Roosboom, Ladysmith communities.

The accused would keep observation and gather information about premises in the area, looking for premises where there were only female occupants in the houses. He would then break into the houses during the night and early parts of the morning.

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Once in the premises, he would threaten his victims using a firearm after which he would rape and often rob them. The accused was quite meticulous in making sure he evaded capture and in most instances he was unidentifiable to his victims.

His reign of terror began in 2009 until his capture earlier this year.

Constable Ntsele, a Link Investigator from the Ladysmith Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) arrested the accused after his DNA profile linked him to the crimes. He was sentenced to ten life imprisonment for rape, 105 years for robbery, 72 years’ for housebreak-in and theft and ten years for kidnapping.

KwaZulu-Natal Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Bheki Langa commended the Ladysmith FCS team for thoroughly investigating the cases, which led to the successful prosecution of the accused.

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