Rapist, murderer faces trial after six years on the run, thanks to Facebook

Zimbabwean national Andrea Imbayarwo, wanted for the brutal rape and murder of a British woman in July 2014, evaded justice for six years until he was nabbed after posting his picture on Facebook on his birthday.

The 32-year-old suspect, who used the alias Andrew Ndlovu at the time, and was also known as ‘Andrea Druza, allegedly raped and murdered retired teacher Christine Robinson on her Limpopo game farm before fleeing to Zimbabwe.

Her dead body was found in a pool of blood in her Northam farm.

Imbayarwo, originally from Gweru in central Zimbabwe, had returned to South Africa several times using different identities, but it was through the family of the victim’s tenacity and quest for justice that he finally landed behind bars.

With the police seemingly unable to nab Imbayarwo, Robinson’s family never stopped searching for her killer and used Facebook posts to draw attention to the case. 

After various social media posts about Ndlovu’s alleged crimes were published, a breakthrough came on Imbayarwo’s birthday in June of 2020, when he decided to share a selfie with his friends on Facebook.

Members of the family and others recognised him, and managed to trace his location through said picture. Shortly thereafter, a team consisting of police, Action Society leader Ian Cameron, and ex-policeman Colonel Sakkie Louwrens was dispatched and arrested Ndlovu in Johannesburg.

He was charged with housebreaking, aggravated burglary, rape, murder of Robinson and for being in South Africa illegally.

Robinson’s family has since appointed Action Society, public interest justice advocacy organisation, to conduct a watching brief on her murder trial, which started in the Polokwane high court on Monday.

Cameron, who was actively involved with the family, following leads in the case up to Ndlovu’s arrest, said Interpol did not do much. 

He, however, said the South African Police Services (SAPS) on the ground at the time of the investigation were fantastic, but the case went cold.

They now hope justice will prevail, considering the successful conviction rate in SA is at an all-time low. 

“Recent statistics from the Medical Research Council revealed that less than one in five sexual offence cases ever make it to trial, and only 8.6% of all sexual offence cases were finalised with a guilty verdict,” he said.

Gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) is a pandemic in SA, Cameron lamented, saying SA was referred to as the rape capital of the world and the femicide rate equal to a country at war. 

“With 153 rapes reported daily, innocent women like Christine pay the ultimate price. We can no longer stand-by while violent predators like Ndlovu keep raping and murdering our women and children,” he added. siphom@citizen.co.za