Pretoria serial killer handed six life terms and 192 years in jail

The High Court in Pretoria has sentenced Pretoria serial killer Wellington Kachidza to six life terms and 192 years imprisonment for his brutal killing and kidnapping spree across Tshwane.

The 28-year-old, a Zimbabwean national, was convicted on 34 counts by Judge Hennie De Vos on Wednesday.

Pretoria serial killer

Kachidza was convicted after he pleaded guilty to six counts of murder, three counts of rape, eight counts of kidnapping, eight counts of extortion, eight counts of robbery with aggravation circumstances and being in South Africa illegally.

The crimes took place in and around Pretoria between January 2018 to December 2019.

Kachidza was arrested in January 2020 after an intelligence-driven operation, and was later linked by DNA evidence to the rape counts.

Kidnapping spree

Kachidza lured his male victims by pretending to ask for their assistance with driving. He would kidnap them and demand ransom money from their families, and after they paid him, Kachidza would kill them.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the reported course of death – based on the post-mortems for the victims – was head injury or trauma to the head.

“With the three female victims, he pretended to be offering employment opportunities, he would lure them to a close-by bush or veld, rape them and rob them of their belongings and walk away,” Mahanjana said in a statement.

State prosecutor Pieter Coetzer argued in court that Kachidza was motivated by greed to commit the offences.

It was also argued on behalf of the State that Kachidza had brutally slaughtered his victims and that his actions had a severe impact on the lives of the rape victims as well as the family members of the deceased.

The NPA welcomed Kachidza’s sentencing.

“The director of public prosecutions, Advocate Sibongile Mzinyathi is confident that through this sentence, the community can be reminded that the NPA is committed to ensuring that people who commit such gruesome crimes are prosecuted.

“Mzinyathi is also thankful to the investigating team of the South African Police Service (SAPS) that investigated this matter.”

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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