By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
The High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local Division, Johannesburg has sentenced Richmond Maleka (35) to three life terms plus 119 years imprisonment on charges of rape, kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
NPA spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane said during the period from March 2016 to November 2018, Maleka began his reign of terror in Gauteng.
“On 18 March 2016, at Tembisa, the accused together with his allies grabbed the first complainant at gunpoint and coerced her to the bushes where her hands were tied.
“The accused and his co-perpetrators violently robbed her of her handbag and proceeded to sexually assault her,” said Mjonondwane.
Mjonondwane said in April 2016, they pounced on the second complainant, who was walking alone and came across the accused and his allies.
She turned back but they pursued. “They grabbed her from behind and strangled her. The accused assaulted and raped her, thereafter, fled the scene.
“He, together with his allies, continued with this reign of terror on four more complainants between September 2017 and October 2018, using the same modus operandi,” Mjonondwane said.
Maleka was arrested for an unrelated robbery, then he was linked through DNA to the crimes he committed in Tembisa.
In arguing for a harsh sentence, acting deputy director of Public Prosecution Adv. Gertrude Market, put forward that gender-based violence remained a scourge where masculinity was used to degrade and undermine women.
She added that the courts ought to play a role in making sure that women were protected from the perpetrators of this dehumanising crime.
“When the accused was finally arrested, he made his preliminary appearances at Tembisa Magistrates’ Court until his matter was later transferred for trial in the High Court,” said Mjonondwane.
Adv. Market and Investigating Officer Warrant Officer Mangwale were lauded for delivering justice to the victims of these heinous crimes.
Adv. Pule Mathaha, the case manager from the Tembisa Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC), where all the eight victims were medically examined and received psychosocial services in preparation for their trial, indicated that the TCC model remained important in fighting gender-based violence and turning victims into survivors.
“The NPA and its partners within the TCCs like the SAPS, and the Department of Health, and Social Development, shall continue with a vigorous stance against perpetrators of gender-based violence,” added Mjonondwane.
