Life for city’s serial rapist

A KRAAIFONTEIN serial rapist, Ayanda Ndziweni, was sentenced to life imprisonment and another 115 years in jail by the Western Cape High Court.

Acting Judge Dèidre Kusevitsky said Ndziweni, 31, conducted a reign of terror against women and children for three years. He was convicted of numerous charges including five counts of rape, attempted rape, two counts of kidnapping, three counts of sexual assault, three counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, one count of attempted robbery and a charge of compelling children to witness sexual offences. Ndziweni’s youngest victim, aged 13 at the time, fell pregnant as a result of the rape. The pregnancy was terminated at 13 weeks.

Kusevitsky said there was no explanation for his acts. Ndziweni approached the victims from behind. He first robbed them off their belongings before dragging them to a field and raping them.

“The predatory nature in which he stalked his victims is indicative of a person whose motive was not to steal, but motivated by a more sinister agenda. In fact, given the modus operandi utilised by the accused, choosing a quiet area located near an open field or bushes, approaching his victims from behind, starting with small chatter and then pouncing, he could be described as a serial rapist or sexual predator,” she said.

Ndziweni was linked to the rapes by police through DNA testing. In one of the incidents, he threatened and forced a victim to give him her cellphone number. After the incident he kept tormenting the victim with mysterious calls. Those calls were traced to Ndziweni’s boss and the accused was later apprehended.

“The community looks to the courts for justice, but that is a small consolation for a person who has been physically violated, whose dignity has been impaired, for a girl whose confidence has been shattered and for a 13-year-old girl, whose innocence was so violently and callously taken away. In her case, her nightmare continued when it emerged that the accused had in fact impregnated her,” said Kusevitsky.

Ndziweni’s name is to be recorded in the Register of Sex Offenders.