The IFP in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature has welcomed the sentencing of serial rapist and paedophile Sakhile Bhekisisa Mhlungu.
Dubbed the “Scottburgh serial rapist”, Mhlungu appeared in the Scottburgh Regional Court in KZN on Thursday and was given three life sentences.
During Mhlungu’s two-year criminal reign, the 47-year-old raped 10 victims, including two women, four older teenagers and children aged 11, 12 and 15. According to the Mail & Guardian, the “Scottburgh serial rapist” began his reign of terror in 2019. He was arrested in January 2022.
According to the publication, Mhlungu pleaded guilty to 19 charges, including rape, kidnapping, robbery and discharging a firearm after police collected DNA evidence linking him to the rapes.
“The accused drove around in his white bakkie and kidnapped teenage girls at gunpoint, before taking them to a secluded spot and raping them.”
The accused was given life terms for the child rapes, 10 to 15 years’ imprisonment for each of the charges of raping the teenagers and women, and three-year prison sentences for the additional charges. They will run concurrently. He will be listed on the Sexual Offenders Register and Child Protection Register.
The IFP said: “The judgment handed down by magistrate Asheena Bacharan to the ‘Scottburgh serial rapist’ indeed sends a clear message that any form of sexual violence against women and children will not be tolerated in our country.
“We welcome the further three-year prison sentence for each of the other charges, which include kidnapping and discharging of a firearm, as this will run concurrently with the three life sentences,” it said.
The IFP added: “Mhlungu’s actions were goal-directed, premeditated and planned. He represented an ongoing danger to the physical and emotional well-being of women and children within the community at large.”
With South Africa ranked as the “rape capital” of the world, and the high number of women and children raped and murdered in the country, the party is debating calling for a referendum on the death penalty.
The party’s manifesto states that it will establish special courts for gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) cases, to ensure that police officers are specially trained and stationed to deal with GBVF, ensure survivors of these crimes can easily access the required services they need, and ensure that GBVF offenders, in particular those charged with murder, are denied bail until they are acquitted of the charges.
Afro Barometer reported that the second quarter statistics for 2023/24 released by Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed that 10 516 rape cases, 1 514 cases of femicide and 14 401 cases of violence against women occurred in July, August and September last year. These are documented statistics, and exclude unreported cases.
The Star