FAILURE by the police to act when a woman from Magagula Heights near Katlehong in Ekurhuleni reported a rape case has led to several women becoming victims of a suspected serial rapist
This claim was made yesterday by a rape victim who said the suspect would not have continued to rape other women had police acted swiftly when she opened a case against the alleged rapist in 2008.
"I was his second victim (after Bongi Dlamini). I opened a case but the police did not arrest him. I blame them for all this," she said.
Dlamini, who was also a resident of Magagula Heights, was allegedly raped and killed by the suspect in 2008.
Yesterday rape victim Joyce Mathebula told Sowetan about the horror of being stabbed, raped and left for dead on Christmas Day by the same suspect.
Mathebula, 55, was attacked when she left her home in the morning on Christmas Day.
"I had a fight with my husband and decided to go to my daughter's house, which is a few metres away," she said.
"As I went outside I saw a man standing in the street near our gate. I was not worried because it was someone I knew."
Mathebula, who is receiving treatment at Natalspruit Hospital, said before she could greet the man, he hit her with a fist in the face.
She said she tried to scream for help but the man closed her mouth and dragged her into a nearby shack.
"He threw me on the bed and started to rape me," she said.
"While he was raping me, he stabbed me in the abdomen with a screwdriver. He also tried to take out my eyes."
Mathebula said it seemed something disturbed the man in the shack and he took her to the street, where he continued to rape her.
"He raped me three times. Doctors told me I was stabbed about nine times. This will haunt me for the rest of my life," she said.
Another suspected victim, Menki Thekiso, was found raped and murdered not far from Mathebula's house on December 21.
Thekiso's daughter Lebogang said her mother left home on December 16 and said she was going to a spaza shop.
"When she did not return we got scared because she had never slept away from home," she said.
She said they found her at the mortuary with stabbed wounds and doctors told them she had also been raped.
Zonkizizwe police spokesperson Constable Rufus Tema confirmed that a 22-year-old man was arrested in connection with the rape and attempted murder of Mathebula.
"We cannot say at the moment whether he is a serial rapists but we are investigating all possibilities," said Tema.
The Magagula Heights suspected serial rapist joins a long list of serial rapists arrested by police this year:
l A 40-year-old serial rapist was arrested in Katlehong early this month.
He allegedly lured young girls to his house by enticing them with sweets and ice-cream.
Police believe that the man raped nine girls whose ages range from seven and 13.
l Mlungisi Mtshali is currently on trial in the Johannesburg regional court for allegedly raping 15 women.
l On December 4, police arrested a serial rapist at Brits in North West in connection with the rape of 15 women in areas around Johannesburg and Pretoria.
l Alleged rapist Jakobus September, known as Pepe, is on trial in the Riversdal magistrate's court.
l A 32-year-old man linked to eight cases of rape and 12 of kidnapping was arrested at the Westgate Shopping Mall last month.
l A 28-year-old man who preyed on women performing rituals at Soweto's Avalon Cemetery was arrested in October at Maponya Mall. His victims were aged between 11 and 58.
lThe victims' names have been changed.
Cops are blamed for serial rapes
FAILURE by the police to act when a woman from Magagula Heights near Katlehong in Ekurhuleni reported a rape case has led to several women becoming victims of a suspected serial rapist
This claim was made yesterday by a rape victim who said the suspect would not have continued to rape other women had police acted swiftly when she opened a case against the alleged rapist in 2008.
"I was his second victim (after Bongi Dlamini). I opened a case but the police did not arrest him. I blame them for all this," she said.
Dlamini, who was also a resident of Magagula Heights, was allegedly raped and killed by the suspect in 2008.
Yesterday rape victim Joyce Mathebula told Sowetan about the horror of being stabbed, raped and left for dead on Christmas Day by the same suspect.
Mathebula, 55, was attacked when she left her home in the morning on Christmas Day.
"I had a fight with my husband and decided to go to my daughter's house, which is a few metres away," she said.
"As I went outside I saw a man standing in the street near our gate. I was not worried because it was someone I knew."
Mathebula, who is receiving treatment at Natalspruit Hospital, said before she could greet the man, he hit her with a fist in the face.
She said she tried to scream for help but the man closed her mouth and dragged her into a nearby shack.
"He threw me on the bed and started to rape me," she said.
"While he was raping me, he stabbed me in the abdomen with a screwdriver. He also tried to take out my eyes."
Mathebula said it seemed something disturbed the man in the shack and he took her to the street, where he continued to rape her.
"He raped me three times. Doctors told me I was stabbed about nine times. This will haunt me for the rest of my life," she said.
Another suspected victim, Menki Thekiso, was found raped and murdered not far from Mathebula's house on December 21.
Thekiso's daughter Lebogang said her mother left home on December 16 and said she was going to a spaza shop.
"When she did not return we got scared because she had never slept away from home," she said.
She said they found her at the mortuary with stabbed wounds and doctors told them she had also been raped.
Zonkizizwe police spokesperson Constable Rufus Tema confirmed that a 22-year-old man was arrested in connection with the rape and attempted murder of Mathebula.
"We cannot say at the moment whether he is a serial rapists but we are investigating all possibilities," said Tema.
The Magagula Heights suspected serial rapist joins a long list of serial rapists arrested by police this year:
l A 40-year-old serial rapist was arrested in Katlehong early this month.
He allegedly lured young girls to his house by enticing them with sweets and ice-cream.
Police believe that the man raped nine girls whose ages range from seven and 13.
l Mlungisi Mtshali is currently on trial in the Johannesburg regional court for allegedly raping 15 women.
l On December 4, police arrested a serial rapist at Brits in North West in connection with the rape of 15 women in areas around Johannesburg and Pretoria.
l Alleged rapist Jakobus September, known as Pepe, is on trial in the Riversdal magistrate's court.
l A 32-year-old man linked to eight cases of rape and 12 of kidnapping was arrested at the Westgate Shopping Mall last month.
l A 28-year-old man who preyed on women performing rituals at Soweto's Avalon Cemetery was arrested in October at Maponya Mall. His victims were aged between 11 and 58.
lThe victims' names have been changed.
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