Serial rapist Johannes Ontsheketse Shabile
- A North West serial rapist has been sentenced to 11 life sentences for rape.
- First, he escaped from prison with the help of a police officer who was fired and criminally charged.
- The NPA praised the work of investigators, prosecutors, police and survivor support services.
A serial rapist in the small northwestern town of Makuassi has been sentenced to life in prison by Klerksdorp District Court, who found him guilty of all 65 charges detailing his victims' ordeal.
Henry Mamotamu, a spokesman for the state's National Prosecuting Authority, said that between December 2013 and May 2018, Yohannes Ontseketse Shabile attacked women on the street, dragged them into grasslands and held them at knifepoint. He said he had robbed and raped her.
Sometimes they would first attack the men they were walking with, then rape and rob the women.
“In some cases, victims were strangled, stabbed with knives, or assaulted with bricks or other objects before robbing or raping them,” Mamotam said.
Survivors range from a 15-year-old girl to a 65-year-old woman.
He was arrested in 2019, but escaped from Wolmaranstad police station with the help of police officers.
He was charged with charges ranging from rape and sexual assault to aggravated assault and robbery.
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The officer was fired, criminal charges were filed, and the case is still pending in court.
Prosecutor Rikie Kraus highlighted the ongoing emotional, physical and psychological trauma the victim was suffering and implored Judge Tebogo Jaje to ban him for life.
Jaje found him to be an unscrupulous man who terrorized the community for six years and sentenced him to 11 life terms, totaling 363 years.
In South Africa, these sentences usually run concurrently, with life sentences lasting 25 years.
Investigating officer Sergeant Puru Morake said the work on the case was similar to the Sexual Offenses and Community Affairs Unit, which prioritized sex crime cases, and the Tuthuzela Care Center, which supported the victim in the lead-up to trial. It was praised.
Evidence suggests at least one other accomplice was involved, but has not yet been identified.