Alleged serial rapist’s case postponed

A 24-year-old man appeared in the Hlanganani Regional Court in Waterval, facing 20 charges of rape on Monday (27 August). The rape incidents allegedly took place between 2007 and 2011.

Moses Hlungwe had allegedly raped at least 20 women and minor girls in different villages, such as Mashamba, Bungeni, Mufeba and Mukondeni. During the trial, 11 complainants came forward to testify against the accused, while no witnesses showed up for the other nine charges.

Hlungwe's defence attorney, Mr Muhanelwa, argued that the State should acquit the accused on all nine charges, because there were no witnesses who could testify against him in court. He also argued that, of the remaining 11 charges, the accused was only "implicated" in eight charges and no witnesses referred to the accused whatsoever as the person who raped them. Mr Muhanelwa further stated that in eight of the cases, Hlungwe had had consensual sexual intercourse with the women who later reported him to the police. "All these people are liars and fabricators who had consensual sex with the accused," he said.

On count six in particular, the defence said that the accused had assisted the "said victim" with odd chores in the home, where she normally paid him R5 or R10. "Sometimes she would offer the accused sex for payment and the accused had no problem with that," said the defence.

He added that the problem started when the accused requested the woman to give him R100 as part of his payment, since he wanted to use it. The woman allegedly refused to give him money and said she would rather continue paying Hlungwe with sex.

In summary, the defence lawyer applied for acquittal on all 20 charges. He argued that the State had no case against Hlungwe.

Two of the alleged victims are still minors, aged 15. The other alleged victims are mainly old ladies, 59, 65, 72, 77, 82 and 83 years old respectively. All the others' ages range between 23 and 46. The case is being handled by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit in Makhado.

Hlungwe was initially arrested after DNA samples that were taken on scenes matched his. He is originally from Zimbabwe and had been staying in Chavani village for some time, before his arrest. His case was postponed to 14 September.

Date:07 September 2012

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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