Tsakane graveyard serial rapist convicted of four counts of rape

The man known as the Tsakane graveyard serial rapist, Petetona Abel Lebele, was on Monday found guilty of four counts of rape and four counts of kidnapping by the Pretoria high court, sitting in Benoni.

The offences were committed against four females, aged seven, 13, 16, and 32, between January 2017 and August 2019, when he was arrested.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Lebele, 43, pleaded guilty, saying he targeted his victims when they were on their way to school or home.

"He also told the court he would grab and drag them to the Tsakane cemetery where he raped them.”

Mahanjana said Lebele's first victim, a seven-year-old girl, was accosted on January 19 2017 on her way to school.

"She met Lebele, he called her and told her to come to collect sweets. The minor refused and started running. However, Lebele caught up with her, dragged her to the cemetery, raped and left her.

"When he raped the 32-year-old woman on August 19 2019 she had her two-year-old child on her back. He pushed the two-year-old on to the ground and proceeded to rape the mother,” she said.

The matter was postponed to Wednesday for sentencing proceedings.

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