Two Limpopo child rapists given life sentences

Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nneke Jim Ledwaba has welcomed the long sentences handed down by two courts in the province after two men were convicted for rape.

On Thursday, the Mogalakwena Regional Court outside Mokopane sentenced Bafana Macdonald Mputla to four life sentences for raping three girls – aged between 11 and 16 – and a young woman believed to be 18. He had previously been found guilty of all charges against him.

Mputla, 27, began his raping spree in 2016. He would drag young girls, who were passing by, into the bush between Extension 19 and Sekgakgapeng Village and repeatedly rape them.

His reign of terror came to an end in 2018, shortly after he raped an 11-year-old girl. He was traced by the Family Violence Child Protection Offences Unit and was arrested.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the Lephalale Regional Court sentenced a man in his 50s to life imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping his 15-year-old stepdaughter at their home in Abbortspoort, Dubs Village, in Villa Nora policing precinct.

The rape took place in 2016 over a period of seven months, during the absence of other family members. The police and department of social development intervened after the victim reported the matter to her school principal.

“The detectives attached to the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, especially the members who were directly working on the cases, are highly commended for their sterling work that saw these heartless criminals being removed from the society,” Ledwaba said.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.