‘Ekurhuleni serial rapist’ pleads guilty to 148 charges, including raping children

Nkosinathi Phakathi’s nine-year reign of terror came to an end on Tuesday after his lawyer read his guilty plea at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.

Dubbed the ‘Ekurhuleni serial rapist’, Phakathi was facing 148 charges including rape, sexual assault, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, theft and possession of an unlicensed firearm.

Guilty of raping 90 women

He pleaded guilty to raping 90 women most of which were minors who were on their way to or from school.

His youngest victim was a nine-year-old girl and his oldest victim was a 43-year-old woman.

The nine-year-old had returned home from school to fetch her lunch money when Phakathi raped her.

He forced her to undress and he raped her.

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In another incident, Phakathi raped a 15-year-old girl while she was on her way to school and robbed her of R10.

State dropped 55 charges

Phakathi was initially facing 203 charges but National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the state dropped 55 charges against him, taking the count of his charges to 148.

He sat quietly in court while his lawyer was reading his guilty plea on record. He looked unfazed by the pain he had caused his victims.

He confirmed to that presiding judge that the contents of the statement read by his lawyer were true and he knew what he was doing at the time he committed his crimes.

The matter was postponed to 8 November for sentencing.

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