THOHOYANDOU – THE rapist of six young women, Shumani Sipho Nematatani (31) was sentenced to three life sentences plus 57 years by the Thohoyandou high court on Friday for rape, kidnapping and common robbery.
Nematatani raped six women aged between 14 and 23 in separate incidents.
The court heard that Nematatani not only raped the women, but also robbed them.
The crimes were committed in Thohoyandou blocks G and D and the outskirts of the town in places where young couples like to meet each other. The rapes took place over a period of some years, with the last incident occurring in 2010.
Nematatani’s modus operandi was to pose as a security officer and tell couples that he came across that it was illegal for them to be at the places where he found them. He would then tie up the man and rape the woman, making off with their cell phones.
In 2010, Nematatani raped a 15-year-old girl in front of her boyfriend. He then kidnapped the girl and took her to his home in Lufule village, where he raped her several times before releasing her the following day.
Also on Friday, the Mankweng magistrate’s court sentenced Samuel Maponya (27) and Samuel Rasekgokga (24) to 18 and 16 years’ imprisonment respectively.
The two were found guilty of house robbery during which they broke into a businessman’s home in Mankweng unit E in 2012. They threatened the man with a firearm and fled on foot with a large amount of money.
In another verdict, Jafter Makaleng (23) was found guilty of robbing a business owner at gunpoint at Leeuwfontein, Marble Hall.
Makaleng, who stole R5 000 during the robbery, was later found in his shack in Singapore village with some of the items he had taken from the business together with the firearm in question. He was sentenced by the Groblersdal regional court last Wednesday to 20 years imprisonment.
