A serial rapist that operated in the areas of Honeydew and Muldersdrift was sentenced to life plus 35 years imprisonment by the Roodepoort Magistrates’ Court on 31 May.
Frans Mahumane was convicted on 17 February 2021. The court sentenced him to ten years for each of the two counts of rape, life imprisonment for another count of rape, and 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances. The sentences will not run concurrently.
Mahumane attended the Roodepoort case after being convicted by the High Court of South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal Local Division, Durban on 14 counts. Judge Graham Lopes convicted him on offences ranging from rape, sexual assault, contravention of the Immigration Act, kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Those offences were committed between June 2016 and August 2017.
During the sitting, the court heard how, on different occasions dating back from January to May 2011, two women were accosted by Mahumane in the early hours of the morning in the bushes at Eskom informal settlement. The third victim was walking along Cedar Road in Muldersdrift when she met Mahumane who claimed to be lost. Wielding a firearm and knife, he robbed her of her belongings. In all three incidents, Mahumane forcefully removed the women’s underwear and raped them.
DNA swabs extracted from all victims matched the buccal samples extracts from Mahumane.
Prosecutor, Mahine Shadrack Temeki argued that, since one of the adult victims was raped more than once, the law dictates that life imprisonment should be imposed, since there were no substantial and compelling circumstances to warrant a deviation. He further argued that the prevalence of this dehumanising crime should be met with harsher sentences so as to deter like-minded individuals.
The NPA’s regional spokesperson in Gauteng, Phindi Mjonondwane said, “We welcome the sentences as it is a victory towards ensuring that women live in freedom and security”.
