12 years for rapist taxi driver

East London taxi driver Siyabonga Sloti – still on trial on four counts of raping four different women passengers between 2015 and 2016 – has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for another rape.

Sloti, 29, was sentenced by East London regional magistrate Deon Rossouw this week after convicting him on the rape and robbery of a 26-year-old Zwelitsha woman passenger in July 2016.

A 12-month term for robbing his victim of a cellphone and money is set to run concurrently.

The Zwelitsha woman, whose identity is protected because it was a sexual attack, had come to East London for a job interview when she took Sloti’s taxi in Oxford Street on her way to King William’s Town.

On the way, Sloti, whose friend Magama Tsotsi was in the vehicle, diverted to a bushy area in Wilsonia, where he raped the woman at knifepoint and then robbed her of her cellphone and R140.

Charges against his co-accused, Tsotsi, were withdrawn last month after the rape victim testified that the 40-year-old man had refused to rape her, despite Sloti “pressurising” him to do so.

The woman told Rossouw that after Tsotsi was forced against his wishes by Sloti to rob her of R140 and her cellphone, Tsotsi had given her R40 for transport.

Rossouw then withdrew the charges against Tsotsi.

During the trial, Sloti told Rossouw he had been at home with his girlfriend at the time, and denied ever driving the said Toyota Conquest on the day.

However, Thulani Gqwetha, a sedan taxi driver, told the court that he had lent Sloti the vehicle on the day in question.

Gqwetha said it was not the first time he had lent Sloti his vehicle.

He said he was shocked when the police arrested him in West Bank on July 30 2016, accusing him of raping a woman the previous day.

“When I told them I never raped any woman, they asked me who was driving my taxi the previous morning, and I informed them that I had lent it to Siya [Sloti],” he told the court.

Sentencing him on Tuesday, Rossouw said Sloti was “an unreliable witness who lied in his testimony”.

He said Sloti showed no remorse for his actions and that because he was linked to other rape charges, he did not deserve a non-custodial sentence.

The magistrate said Sloti showed no remorse for his actions