Rapist will spend his life behind bars

Mohlala Elvis Kgatla (31) received an additional fifteen years for robbery with aggravating circumstances including a four-year jail term for housebreaking with the intent to commit an offence. All sentences will run concurrently with the life sentence.

In December 2019 Kgatla broke into a house in Phaphadi village and raped and robbed an 83-year-old woman. The victim was sleeping alone in the bedroom when the accused forcefully opened a window and gained entry into the house. Kgatla went straight to her bedroom and started to strangle the victim and rape her.

Also read: Rapist hit with life sentence imprisonment

Afterwards, Kgatla demanded money from the victim while threatening to kill her with a hammer. He demanded money and the elderly woman gave the rapist R600 before he fled the house. The woman was able to identify her rapist and immediately reported it to her neighbour. A case was opened at the Bolobedu Police Station. At the time the suspect fled the village to avoid arrest.

But in April 2021, police were notified about his whereabouts, and he was traced and arrested on April 24, 2021. The case was transferred to the Tzaneen Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit and handed to Sgt Glenda Mathebula for further investigation. Police commissioner, Lt Gen Thembi Hadebe, applauded the work by Mathebula as well as the collaborative efforts between all of the role players.