A young woman was so desperate for work that she agreed to accompany a complete stranger to a house where he later allegedly raped her after promising her employment.
The 22-year-old is one of nine victims allegedly lured by Isaac Dibetso, 37, with promises of employment but instead raped them.
Between May and September 2012, Dibetso is said to have targeted unemployed females, promising them jobs.
He reportedly pretended to his victims that he was taking them to places of their prospective employment but instead lured them to secluded, bushy areas where he threatened them with either a knife, screw driver or steel pipe or threatened to shoot them.
He would then rape them and rob them of their belongings, it is said, and afterwards, in most cases, would tie his victims' hands and legs together or tie the victims to a tree, leaving them in the bush. The victims' ages range from 22 to 34.
Testifying in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, the 22-year-old woman said on the day she was allegedly raped, she was moving house to house in GaRankuwa, looking for work as a domestic worker.
Dibetso, she said, approached her, offering her work at his house and she agreed to start the same day.
The two then boarded a taxi to Dibetso's house, in another section of GaRankuwa.
On the way to the house, they got off near a bushy area, which he allegedly said was a shortcut, and then he threatened her, raped her and tied her to a tree.
She untied herself a few minutes after Dibetso fled the scene, the woman said.
"I was desperate for any job, that's why I was even going house to house.
"When he offered me the job, I was excited and at no point did I suspect anything," she testified.
Another one of the nine women who was allegedly raped behind a manufacturing firm in Rosslyn and tied to a tree at 9am was discovered at 5pm by a group of workers who were knocking off from work.
Dibetso's victims all come from areas in the north of Pretoria, including Hammanskraal, Orchards, Zanderfontein, Rosslyn and GaRankuwa.
Another alleged victim testified that she was running a fruit stall at the train station in GaRankuwa when Dibetso offered her a job.
She said he was smartly dressed, as most of the victims testified, and told her he was friends with an owner of a firm.
He suggested they go to the friend's house as the friend was not working on the day, she said.
The house was on a hill and and as they ascended it, Dibetso raped her in a bushy area, she said.
His DNA was allegedly found in all the victims. He faces 10 charges of rape, 10 of kidnapping and 10 charges of robbery.
He allegedly stole his victims' belongings, including money and cellphones.
The state closed its case and the defence will begin theirs today.
Dibetso pleaded not guilty and will remain under police custody.
The case continues.
khumelaj@sowetan.co.za
Rapist preyed on jobless women
A young woman was so desperate for work that she agreed to accompany a complete stranger to a house where he later allegedly raped her after promising her employment.
The 22-year-old is one of nine victims allegedly lured by Isaac Dibetso, 37, with promises of employment but instead raped them.
Between May and September 2012, Dibetso is said to have targeted unemployed females, promising them jobs.
He reportedly pretended to his victims that he was taking them to places of their prospective employment but instead lured them to secluded, bushy areas where he threatened them with either a knife, screw driver or steel pipe or threatened to shoot them.
He would then rape them and rob them of their belongings, it is said, and afterwards, in most cases, would tie his victims' hands and legs together or tie the victims to a tree, leaving them in the bush. The victims' ages range from 22 to 34.
Testifying in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, the 22-year-old woman said on the day she was allegedly raped, she was moving house to house in GaRankuwa, looking for work as a domestic worker.
Dibetso, she said, approached her, offering her work at his house and she agreed to start the same day.
The two then boarded a taxi to Dibetso's house, in another section of GaRankuwa.
On the way to the house, they got off near a bushy area, which he allegedly said was a shortcut, and then he threatened her, raped her and tied her to a tree.
She untied herself a few minutes after Dibetso fled the scene, the woman said.
"I was desperate for any job, that's why I was even going house to house.
"When he offered me the job, I was excited and at no point did I suspect anything," she testified.
Another one of the nine women who was allegedly raped behind a manufacturing firm in Rosslyn and tied to a tree at 9am was discovered at 5pm by a group of workers who were knocking off from work.
Dibetso's victims all come from areas in the north of Pretoria, including Hammanskraal, Orchards, Zanderfontein, Rosslyn and GaRankuwa.
Another alleged victim testified that she was running a fruit stall at the train station in GaRankuwa when Dibetso offered her a job.
She said he was smartly dressed, as most of the victims testified, and told her he was friends with an owner of a firm.
He suggested they go to the friend's house as the friend was not working on the day, she said.
The house was on a hill and and as they ascended it, Dibetso raped her in a bushy area, she said.
His DNA was allegedly found in all the victims. He faces 10 charges of rape, 10 of kidnapping and 10 charges of robbery.
He allegedly stole his victims' belongings, including money and cellphones.
The state closed its case and the defence will begin theirs today.
Dibetso pleaded not guilty and will remain under police custody.
The case continues.
khumelaj@sowetan.co.za
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