The Mpumalanga Division of the High Court which sitting in Mbombela sentenced Bongani Mthandazo Msimango for raping seven women in Nkomazi.
During the proceedings, the court heard how Msimango made the lives of the women difficult by terrorising them and thinking that was going to get away with it. In August, November 2013 and December 2014 he raped three pensioners in Tonga where he assaulted and robbed them of their personal belongings.
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“Msimango’s violent acts against women did not stop but further continued where in January 10, 2015, he viciously assaulted a 35-year-old woman also robbed her of her personal belongings and raped her. On the same year in September, he raped a 66-year-old woman and robbed her of her personal items as well,” the court heard.
Among the victims was a teenager at the time who he raped, threatened with with a knife and assaulted her in Mangweni. Another woman suffered the same fate when she was raped on Christmas Day in 2018.
Msimango was arrested in Tonga and remained in custody after all his bail attempts were unsuccessful until his trial.
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The sentencing is as follows:
- On the two counts of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment for each count.
- On the two counts of robbery, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment for each count.
- On the seven counts of rape, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for each count.
The accused was also declared unfit to possess a firearm and his particulars will be registered into the National Register for Sex Offenders. He was also found unfit to work with children and his particulars will also be registered in the National Child Protection Register.
The Acting Judge of the High Court, Jansen van Rensburg, has ordered that all sentences to run concurrently with the life sentences.
