Dudu Busani

Dudu Busani

Convicted murderer Johannes Molefe was yesterday found guilty of rape, murder and attempted murder in an incident involving two Lenasia women.

Also convicted at the Johannesburg high court was Molefe's co-accused, Kleinkie Pooe, 21.

Molefe is the man who killed Transvaal Judge President Bernard Ngoepe's granddaughter, Makgabo Matlala, 3, last year.

In March last year, Molefe confessed to breaking into Ngoepe's daughter's house, raping the domestic worker and killing Makgabo. Two days after the incident, Molefe and Pooe attacked two women in a veld in Lenasia.

One of the women was gang- raped, their wrists and ankles were then tied together, their panties shoved down their throats and their mouths gagged with the clothes they had been wearing.

One of them, suspected to have been pregnant, died at the scene while the other was able to untie herself and run for help.

Molefe, already serving a life sentence for Makgabo's murder, was yesterday found guilty of murder, rape and attempted murder.

Pooe was, however, acquitted on the rape charge as DNA evidence did not link him to the rape. He was nevertheless convicted of murder and attempted murder.

Molefe's blood was found on the clothes worn by the two women on the day. His semen was also found on the surviving victim.

Molefe's lawyer, Advocate Dumisani Mkhwanazi, pleaded for a lighter sentence saying Molefe was still very young, and had turned his life around.

"He has registered for a Life Skills Programme in prison to ensure that he's a better man when he comes out," said Mkhwanazi in mitigation.

The two will be sentenced on Monday.