49-year-old Johannes Christiaan de Jager was found guilty of killing two teenagers and raping one.
On May 27, acting Judge Chuma Cossie imposed three life sentences on de Jager, in the Western Cape High Court. She found there were no means that allowed her to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentences.
“In my view, therefore, even in view of the time spent in custody during the trial, the prescribed minimum sentences are in totality compellingly the only manner in which justice can be dispensed,” she said.
De Jager was convicted of killing Hiltina Alexander in 2008 and last year Charmaine Mare, aged 16, Both crimes were committed in Cape Town. De Jager was also convicted of raping Alexander. The life sentences imposed for the two murders and the rape of Alexander will not run concurrently.
“This kind of brutality is regrettably too a part of life in South Africa. Courts are expected to send out a clear message that such behaviour will be met with the full force and effect of the law,” added Cossie.
De Jager, instead of keeping to his word, to help Mare look for work, used the opportunity to violate her and showed no remorse by denying that he killed her, only admitting that he violated the corpse and nothing further.
Outside court, members of the Sisonke sex workers’ movement ululated and jumped for joy at the sentences. Some carried posters stating: “We demand justice” and “Decriminalise sex work now”.
National Sisonke organiser Duduzile Dlamini shouted that she was happy that they were also regarded as human.
“I’ve been in the industry many years. This one case shows me that our voices are heard now and I’m going to motivate my colleagues to go back and review their cases,” said Dlamini.
The Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), Sisonke Sex Worker Movement, the Women’s Legal Centre and Sonke Gender Justice welcomed the judgment handed down by the Western Cape High Court on April 29 that found double murder accused Johannes de Jager guilty of raping and murdering Hiltina Alexander, a sex worker, in May 2008 in Cape Town.
“Gender-based violence is an injustice that affects many women and girls worldwide, with South Africa recording some of the highest rates of sexual violence. Violence against sex workers is particularly pronounced, and recent research shows that a third to half of all sex workers experienced violence in their workplaces in the last year.
A legal framework that criminalises sex work greatly increases sex workers’ vulnerability to violence and reduces the likelihood that violence will be reported. Very few perpetrators of crimes against sex workers are brought to justice.
In addition, high levels of violence against sex workers are linked to social stigma which has contributed to sex workers being viewed as second class citizens,” reads a press statement released by Sonke Gender Justice, SWEAT, Sisonke Sex Workers Movement and the Women’s Legal Cent.
