Serial rapist gets three life terms

Police in Thohoyandou and more especially the Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) are in a celebratory mood following the long jail sentence meted out to a serial rapist.

The long sentences have boosted the morale of the unit who were also praised by their cluster commander, Maj-Gen Rosina Mulaudzi, for a job well done. 

Last Friday, the Limpopo High Court in Thohoyandou sentenced Ofhani Magwaba (35) for a series of violent crimes, among them rapes and robberies. The rapes and robberies happened between 2009 and 2013.

Magwaba was sentenced to three life terms on three counts of rape. He was also sentenced to an effective 45 years for three counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances and a further three years for house breaking with intent to rob and rape.

During the trial, the court heard that during November 2009 Magwaba broke into the house of a 56-year-old woman, threatened her with a knife before raping and robbing her of R500.

In another incident, Magwaba came across a 68-year-old granny along the street, coming from church. He threatened her with a knife, raped her and robbed her of R1 000.

He continued with his reign of terror and went to a certain local church in one of the villages near Thohoyandou shortly before midnight. He found the 44-year-old wife of the pastor, her domestic worker and children. He stabbed the pastor’s wife, raped her and the domestic worker inside the church and robbed them of their valuables including cell phones and cash.

Limpopo police commissioner Lt-Gen Nneke Ledwaba commended the members of the unit who worked hard to ensure that the serial rapist was brought to book and subsequently given long jail terms. He hailed the sentence saying it is a milestone achievement in the fight against incidents of rapes in this province.

Date:20 April 2018

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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