The Randburg Magistrate’s Court has sentenced Mandulo Moyo to life imprisonment for being part of the gang rape of a woman in Diepsloot in 2017.
National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the victim was asleep with her two-month-old baby, when the accused, together with two assailants, pounced on her on April 28 that year.
“They knocked on the door, pretending to be police officers, and when she opened the door, she was hit with a brick on her head,” Mjonondwane said.
“She became unconscious and woke up only to find out that one male was raping her, and the second man after him, raped her without a condom. The assailants then fled with her belongings like cellphones and bank cards.”
She reported the case and was medically examined with DNA swabs extracted.
The case remained unsolved until the apprehension of the accused a month later, in another Diepsloot gang-rape case.
“His buccal swab was taken and sent to the forensic laboratory, this case triggered the crime kit submitted in the unsolved case, and that is when the laboratory instructed [the investigating officer] Sergeant Rudzani Ramukhuvhathi, to obtain further confirmatory samples from the accused.”
These came back positive, confirming that the accused’s DNA was found in [the Diepsloot victim’s] case.
He was then charged with rape, robbery with aggravating circumstances as well as contravention of the Immigration Act.
State Advocate Given Mbedzi asked the court to reject the accused’s version that he was in a relationship with the complainant.
He added that the accused was on a mission of destruction, knowing that he is illegally in the country and could therefore not be easily traced. He said Moyo terrorised women in the sanctity of their own homes, where they thought they were safe. He asked the court to consider that the complainant was left with physical and psychological scars, as she had to be operated on after her eye socket was broken when she was attacked with the brick.
“The NPA frowns upon males that conduct themselves in a manner that seeks to undermine the rights of women and children. We applaud advocate Mbedzi and Sergeant Ramukhuvhathi, for ensuring that [the victim’s] case does not remain an unsolved ordeal.”
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