A PORT Shepstone man (20) convicted of several rapes was handed two life sentences and 25 years’ in jail in the Pietermaritzburg High Court last Thursday.
Sokhela Gida pleaded guilty to three rapes and other crimes.
In 2010, he raped a 22-year-old woman, the following year he attacked a paralysed woman and her 15-year-old daughter in their home.
Gida was sentenced to an additional 25 years for housebreaking, and for assaulting one of the women.
According to news reports, Judge Rishi Seegobin said Gida was well on his way to becoming a serial rapist, adding that it would have only been a matter of time before he resorted to murder.
The court heard that the mother and daughter still suffer severe psychological trauma and have had to undergo preventive treatment for possible HIV infection.
The girl’s academic work suffered after her ordeal and she had emotional problems. Gida’s sentences will run concurrently.
