A serial rapist operating in the Western Cape has been handed four life imprisonment terms together with a further 63 years of direct imprisonment for a string of brutal sexual assaults that began in 2019, after forensic DNA evidence connected him to several rape investigations following his arrest in connection with a separate rape offence.
The High Court in the Western Cape, South Africa, delivered the sentence after the State and the 27-year-old accused, Sihle Makuala, concluded a plea and sentence agreement. State Advocate Kepler Uys informed the court that Makuala started targeting three young women and one minor in the Siyanyanzela informal settlement in Grabouw from 29 July 2019. Uys detailed that, in the initial incident, the accused stabbed and struck the victim repeatedly to overpower her, then raped her while holding a knife to her throat, after which he rummaged through her handbag and robbed her of a hokka pipe under continued threat of the blade.
Uys continued that on 21 August 2019, Makuala ambushed another young woman close to Grabouw Lodge, dragged her to an isolated spot, stripped her of her clothing and raped her. He thereafter went through her handbag, stole two bank cards, compelled her to disclose the PIN numbers, and took R9 in cash while still brandishing the knife. On 7 October 2019, he accosted yet another young woman, demanded money, and, upon being told she had none, marched her at knifepoint to a bushy area where he removed her clothes and raped her, subsequently robbing her of a single R2 coin. Uys stated that on 13 August 2020, Makuala approached a 17-year-old girl, covered her eyes with a blindfold, took her to his residence, menaced her with a knife, stripped her and raped her, then stole her cellphone, charger and earphones worth R1,400.
Uys told the court that Makuala was taken into custody in May 2022 after being held for an unrelated rape, for which he is presently serving a 15-year direct prison term. His DNA profile was subsequently found to match biological evidence in numerous outstanding rape files, which allowed the prosecution to tie him conclusively to these four matters. “Complainants in these cases were unable to identify the accused directly,” Uys said, emphasising that the DNA Project enabled the State to combine the dockets and place irrefutable proof of his pattern of serial sexual offending before the court.
Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila stated that, in the absence of the DNA connections, “he may never have never been connected to these crimes.”
A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.
Nnamdi Okoli