By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
Gauteng Police management has welcomed the recent sentencing of Serial rapist Thokozani Jiyane nicknamed Facebook rapist to eight (8) life imprisonment by the Johannesburg High Court for raping 10 women in and around Gauteng recently.
Jiyane, 23, was further sentenced to 223 years after being found guilty of 17 counts of rape and 10 counts of robberies with aggravating circumstances, two counts of kidnapping and assault GBH and three counts of fraud.
Captain SM Manaka of FCS unit in Brakpan arrested Jiyane in March 2020 in Angelo squatter camp in Boksburg.
Manaka received information about his whereabouts from the informer. Initially, Jiyane was charged with three cases and the remainder was added later.
The Facebook rapist started his reign of terror in Reigerpark, Boksburg and became known as the Facebook rapist in December 2019.
He lured his victims on Facebook after pretending to be in the filming industry and offering jobs to unsuspecting women. He promised his victims work in the industry while others he promised them to promote his clothing label.
As soon as his targets gave in to his entices, Jiyane would inbox them on Facebook and WhatsApp and request their photos.
He would later arrange a meeting with them and requested that they travel by taxi to Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg. This is where he would ambush them to walk in a secluded bushy area and later strangle them before raping and robbing them of their belongings.
Once they meet up with him, Jiyane would rob his victims of their cell phones and bank cards and later rape them.
He also forced some of them to have oral sex with him. Jiyane’s victims came as far as from Middleburg in Mpumalanga, Hammanskraal, KwaMhlanga, Soweto, Vosloorus and Westonaria.
Gauteng Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General DT Mthombeni commended the investigating team for the work well done.
“This shows the commitment the SAPS in the form of FCS has in ensuring that women are protected and crimes against women are investigated fully, he added.
“The SAPS has prioritised crimes against women and children and has committed to do everything in their power to ensure that those targeting women are brought to book,”
Mthombeni said.
Jiyane was previously arrested in Delmas, Mpumalanga in October 2019, hhowever, hiscase was not placed on the court roll.
The prosecutor then indicated that he was not properly linked to the ooffenseand was later released. Jiyane took the first taxi out of Delmas and escaped to Boksburg, Gauteng where he continued with his reign of terror.
Despite struggles with forensics on the cases, Manaka relied mostly on Cyber unit retrieving mmore informationfrom Facebook postings that took place between Jiyane and his victims.
And this assisted his investigations and ensured that he received the outstanding sentence of 8 life sentences.
The ooffenseswere committed over the period of December 2019 until February 2020. The modus operandi in all the cases was the same and Jiyane was positively identified by six of the victims during an identity parade.
Source: http://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=34409
