Mpumalanga nurse gets 5 life terms plus 182 years for rape and kidnapping

A Mpumalanga nurse has been served with five life terms and 182 years after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including rape and robbery.

Mpho Gift Moima, 36, from Maganagobuswa in Siyabuswa, was employed by the provincial health department’s Kgobokwane Clinic.

He was sentenced in the Mpumalanga High Court in Middelburg on Thursday.

According to NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa, Moima pleaded guilty to 14 counts of rape, four of robbery with aggravating circumstances, four of kidnapping, three of pointing a firearm, attempted murder and another of sexual assault.

Between February and March 2018, Moima targeted women walking on the streets at night in different areas of Siyabuswa.

Nyuswa said he forced women into his vehicle and drove off to bushes, where he would rape them.

“Five of the 14 victims were minors during the time of the incident. In one incident that stands out, on 8 February 2018, Moima drove with three victims from Woolkraal RDP houses to Oorlog Bush.

“He instructed them to undress themselves and raped them one by one. He would sometimes rob his victims of their belongings, like cell phones and cash. Some were assaulted and repeatedly raped by Moima,” Nyuswa said.

Testimonies

In aggravation of sentence, the prosecutor, advocate Eric Sihlangu, led the testimonies of several victims and tabled victim reports to indicate how the rapes had affected their lives.

“Addressing the court for an appropriate sentence, Sihlangu told the court that there was a huge outcry by society about the need for gender-based violence, which engulfs our society, to be stopped.

“Violence perpetrated by men in society against women counterparts needed to end. Therefore, the only way to end it was for the courts to impose harsh sentences to deter future offenders,” Nyuswa said.

The court also ordered that Moima’s name be entered into the National Register for Sexual Offenders and declared him unfit to possess a firearm.

Moima was sentenced to five life sentences for each count of minor victims, 10 years imprisonment for each count of his adult victims, 15 years imprisonment on each count of robbery with aggravating circumstances, five years imprisonment on each count of kidnapping, two years imprisonment on each count of pointing of a firearm, six years for attempted murder and another five years imprisonment for sexual assault.

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