Murderer, rapist to be sentenced

Robber escaped from prison in 2014

The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg will today hand down a sentence on a man who escaped from prison in December 2014 as the court was due to sentence him for a litany of crimes he committed in Soweto during July and December 2012. The judge who presided over the matter has since died, but he had already prepared a detailed judgment which will now be finally handed down. Innocent Lungisani Mdlolo‚ who was nicknamed “One Man” and single-handedly terrorised a community in Soweto during this period‚ was found guilty of murder‚ rape and armed robbery in 2014. Mdlolo escaped from custody in the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court on December 2 2014 after judge John Maluleka found him guilty of a number of crimes. Maluleka died in August 2017‚ but he had prepared a typed judgment.

When Mdlolo appears in court‚ a new judge will read the judgment that had been prepared by Maluleka. Mdlolo was arrested in December last year together with seven other people in connection with cash-in-transit heists in Katlehong and Meyerton in Gauteng. The Hawks said Mdlolo was arrested in Duduza‚ Nigel‚ with a revolver. In his trial before Maluleka‚ Mdlolo faced one count of murder‚ three counts of rape‚ two counts of kidnapping and 15 counts of possession of an unlicensed firearm.

He also faced 10 counts of housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery with aggravated circumstances‚ plus five counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances.

The indictment served on Mdlolo said he either accosted his victims in their cars‚ or broke open and entered their homes‚ pointing a firearm at them and demanding money‚ cellphones and laptops. “He raped his victims on three occasions and on one occasion he shot and killed a victim‚” the indictment read. The indictment said the crime spree was halted after one of the victims he had robbed of her cellphone enlisted her boyfriend to track the movements of her cellphone. “The cellphone was traced to Nancefield Hostel in Soweto‚ where the accused was found hiding in a ceiling.

“The accused was arrested and searched‚” the indictment read.

The cellphone belonging to the victim was found in Mdlolo’s possession.