The Midweek Sun

Man rapes two more women while on bail for rape He has to answer to seven more rape cases

- BY NEO KOLANTSHO

Alleged serial rapist Tebogo Peaceful Matlakala (27) of Kanye is in jail, again.Magistrate Ntuli Ditebogo of Kanye Magistrate Court sent the accused back to the cold floors of prison cells this past Monday, saying she finds it risky to have him roam the streets.The Kanye man has three rape cases to his name and giving him bail will be travesty to justice. Matlakala was brought to court in 2021 for allegedly raping a woman. He was granted bail but went on to allegedly rape two more people this year with the latest case registered two weeks ago. “The accused has the propensity to commit similar crimes around Kanye, it will be travesty of justice if he is released,” the magistrate said when making a ruling on two separate bail applicatio­ns that Matlakala had made to court. Prosecutor Mabutho Mabutho told this publicatio­n that Matlakala has multiple rape cases. “It is not only this three, he has seven or so cases that he needs to answer for, others are still being investigat­ed and have been temporaril­y withdrawn from court,” he said, adding that Matlakala is alleged to lure unsuspecti­ng victims by posting fake pictures of himself on social media. He posts pictures of macho men, light skinned and buffy, knowing well most women will go crazy over such looks. He then goes on to propose to ladies

and when they agree to date him, he asks that they visit him in Kanye and he proceeds to rape them. In 2020 and during an interview with The Midweek Sun, Andrew Mbazo who was the then Officer in Charge, Criminal Investigat­ion Department (CID) Sejelo Police in Kanye, said that they were hunting for a man who had repeatedly raped a teenager that he met on social media. It later turned out that the hunted man was Matlakala.

The abused teenager who was at the time residing at Mmopane had told the police that she started communicat­ing with Matlakala on Facebook. They immediatel­y hit it off with her assuming she had scored a lover in Matlakala. They then decided to meet for the first time in Kanye and when she reached there around noon, her lover informed her that he was held up elsewhere but would send one of his friends to pick her up. She then received further instructio­ns from him to catch a taxi to Ngwaketse School. While there, Matlakala approached, asking who she was and telling her that he had been sent by the boyfriend to get her. The teenager was looking for her macho man. She did not suspect that this friend sent to pick her up could be her supposed boyfriend. They started walking to a place where the girl would wait for her man. On the way, the ‘boyfriend’ called asking if she had been picked and the lady assured her lover that she was in safe hands. While walking, the lady accidental­ly stepped on a sharp thorn that pierced through her foot. Matlakala pulled out the thorn and immediatel­y informed his companion that she needed to be ‘cleansed’ as she had been pricked by a very deadly and dangerous kind of thorn species. He led her to a nearby bushy area under the pretence of looking for herbs to immediatel­y treat her. While there, Matlakala told her to undress and he began rubbing crushed leaves all over her body. He proceeded to forcibly penetrate her in broad daylight without using a condom. Once satisfied, he told her that they go home. He would then leave her at an unfamiliar house and the woman waited in the hope that her boyfriend would soon show up. To her surprise, the same friend to ‘her man’ returned hours later and informed her that they need to return to the bushy area for another cleansing ceremony. This is where Matlakala once again undressed her and rubbed stuff on her body then continued to rape her for the second time. It was now late in the evening when she was taken back home and still she hoped to finally meet her Facebook lover. But Matlakala retired to bed and both were forced to share a bed. At this point, he then made an attempt to have sex with her for the third time but she refused. He got angry and walked out on her, leaving her stranded at an unknown residence. Seeing that she was stranded, she sought help from strangers and only managed to leave Kanye for Mmopane around midnight. After the police arrested Matlakala, it was said in court that he was linked to the rape of three teenage girls.

 ?? ?? ALLEGED SERIAL RAPIST: Tebogo Peaceful Matlakala
ALLEGED SERIAL RAPIST: Tebogo Peaceful Matlakala

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