The GaRankuwa Magistrates’ Court, north of Pretoria, on Wednesday sentenced ANC councillor Emmanuel Sipho Maselane to a total of 58 years in prison and one life term on four counts of rape and robbery with aggravating circumstances.

Magistrate Dan Mokgotsi also ordered that Maselane, 35, a ward 9 councillor in Winterveldt, be entered into the sex offenders' register.

The magistrate said Maselane carefully planned and executed his crimes, and that the scourge of rape spread like cancer and touched at the core of social cohesion. He said instead of protecting the weak as a leader of society, Maselane preyed on the same people he was supposed to protect.

“We need peace, harmony and tranquillity in our society…You get a situation where a person portrays himself as a Samaritan so that the potential victims can go to him. You are not helping the community. You are raping them. You are robbing them,” he said.

Maselane’s modus operandi was to give his victims lifts in his white Toyota Corolla from taverns in and around Soshanguve. He would then drive the victims to a secluded area where he raped and robbed them of their belongings, including cellphones, at gun point.

One of the victims was gang raped by Maselane and his companion. Two of his victims were 14 years old when the crimes were committed in December 2014 and February 2015. The other two victims were aged 30 and 37.

“You have a wife, yet you go around doing this? What time do you take care of your wife? What time do you take care of your children because the crimes were committed in the wee hours?” the magistrate asked.

Maselane was found guilty of a total of eight counts of rape and robbery on Monday. Among evidence that led to his successful prosecution were the vehicle he used, the shoes of one of his victims that were found in his car as well as the description of his genitals which victims said were covered in warts.

The sentences will run concurrently.