A 33-year-old serial rapist, Sabelo Khumalo, has been sentenced to 85 years in prison, bringing a sense of justice to the Ntambamhlophe community, near Estcourt after years of terror.
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A 33-year-old serial rapist who targeted women in the Ntambamhlophe area near Estcourt has been effectively removed from society for the rest of his life.
The Estcourt Regional Court sentenced Sabelo Khumalo to a cumulative 85 years of direct imprisonment this week. The sentence follows his conviction on five counts of rape and two counts of housebreaking with intent to steal and theft.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has lauded the heavy sentence as a significant victory for justice in the region.
The court heard that between January 2021 and September 2023, Khumalo targeted five women between the ages of 22 and 29. In a series of calculated attacks, he would break into their homes in the early hours of the morning to commit the assaults.
"He would break into their homes in the early hours of the morning and rape them," the NPA stated. "In two instances, he took the complainants’ cellphones before fleeing the scene."
The victims received treatment and underwent forensic examinations at a nearby hospital. The DNA evidence collected proved crucial in the case and ended Khumalo’s "reign of terror",
According to the NPA, "Khumalo was arrested following another housebreaking incident, when buccal samples (taken upon his arrest) linked him through DNA to the previous cases."
During the trial, prosecutors Eddie Mbewu and Nonhlanhla Phungula presented expert reports linking Khumalo to the offences via DNA exhibits.
The survivors provided harrowing testimony regarding the lasting psychological scars left by Khumalo's crimes.
"They told the court about the trauma they continue to experience because of the incidents," the prosecution noted.
In seeking a severe penalty, the State successfully argued for the court to "impose sentences in accordance with the minimum sentence, and for the sentences to run consecutively."
The court handed down the following sentences to Khumalo:
The court ordered that "the sentences run consecutively, resulting in a cumulative effective sentence of 85 years' imprisonment."
Further to the jail time, Khumalo was "declared unfit to possess a firearm," and the court ordered that his "name be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders."
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