Justice in sight for survivor of Prasa rapist’s terror

“He told me to lie down at the back seat, facing upwards looking at him and he placed my head on top of my sister who [was] sitting at the back seat, watching everything as he raped me without a condom in his car.”

This is the chilling account of the Daveyton survivor of the reign of terror of Sipho Lucas Phiri.

She was 28 at the time, alongside her 22-year-old sister, who was made to watch her rape by the Prasa rapist.

Survivor’s young sister made to watch her rape

This was on 15 December, 2022, as the two sisters were coming from Johannesburg just before midnight when they were dropped off by a taxi at the Daveyton taxi rank and could not find another to take them home.

Phiri offered them a lift home. Unbeknown to them, the lift would change the course of their lives.

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He was not in his Prasa uniform as alleged by other victims.

“He told us he was unfamiliar with the Daveyton area and we should direct him. But when we were a street away from where we stayed, he stopped the car and took out a gun and wore his Prasa face mask,” said the survivor.

“He told us to cooperate and told my sister to bring her phone and everything else she had.”

Phiri threatened sisters with gun

He told them he was not robbing them but asked, “do you know what I want?”

When they said they didn’t he allegedly said he would show them. As he drove away he kept the gun pointed at the victim on the front seat and threatened to shoot if her sister “tried anything”.

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The sister put Phiri off by saying she had her period.

After the gruesome ordeal, he drove them home and said he was affiliated with the police and there was nothing they could do. He knew who they stayed with and if they reported him he would come for their mother and everyone, including their pet dog.

“When a car passes by I get scared, even when someone wants to ask for directions I become scared. It’s hard even requesting an Uber because I keep imagining the worst,” she said.

Arrested in 2023

In 2023, when Phiri was arrested, the survivor saw the article and the description of his modus operandi and reported the case.

“I am happy that the trial has started, we waited so long. This thing affected each and every one of us differently so we are happy he is behind bars.”

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