Separate trials of taxi drivers accused of rape, orders judge
One man missed earlier attacks
Two taxi drivers accused of terrorising female passengers across Gauteng in a 13-monthlong reign of terror will now be tried separately.
This came out yesterday in the South Gauteng High Court sitting in Palm Ridge, where it emerged that one of the men was incarcerated during the commission of the 44 of the 51 counts of rape, kidnapping, sexual assault and robbery the pair faced.
The men, aged 30 and 28, were arrested last year.
The duo allegedly went on a year-long crime spree in which they abducted, raped and robbed female passengers in Soweto, Johannesburg, and Ekurhuleni using a Toyota Quantum minibus taxi.
Judge Cassim Moosa yesterday made an order for a separation of trial after it came to light that the 30-year-old accused had been jailed when most of the crimes were committed between September 26 2016 and October 12 2017.
He postponed the matter to October 19 for a pre-trial hearing and for a new indictment to be drawn up. The man will still face similar charges but with less counts.
“The argument raised by accused one is that he had a water-tight alibi from charges one to 44. However, if one looks at the fact that the accused still faces charges that include rape, kidnapping, aiding and abetting, and pointing an object which resembles a firearm, he is facing life imprisonment,” the judge said.
Meanwhile, the court heard that his 28-year-old co-accused intended to plead guilty to most of the 51 counts he faced.
Prosecutor Rolene Bester told the court that she intended to call two victims to testify on the counts that the accused will contest. His matter was postponed to today.
The pair were initially charged together on 13 counts of rape, nine of kidnapping, and nine of aiding and abetting of another person to commit a sexual offense.
They also faced nine counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, a count of sexual assault, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and nine counts of pointing anything which is likely to lead a person to believe it is firearm.