House robbers/rapists sentenced to life and 20 years in prison

House robbers/rapists sentenced to life and 20 years in prison

  

On Thursday 25 September 2014, the Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Thulani Ntobela appreciates in jubilation the good working relationship shared between the police and the community in Mpumalanga. 

Lt Gen Ntobela’s appreciation stems from a number of arrests and convictions that the police have scooped in the province. The latest being the sentencing of three villains to life imprisonment and several years for each accused. 

Russell Mokoena aged 32, sentenced to life for rape, 15 years for house robbery and an additional seven years for house breaking. Mokoena was with Terry Maunye, 33 years of age and David Makwakwa 32, during the commission of these crimes. They too sentenced to life and 20 years for other crimes.

The sentencing of this trio evolved from a barbaric incident that occurred on 15 October 2012, at approximately 01:00, where a 28-year-old woman brutally raped in front of her husband and two children. The woman who is from Relane trust in Bushbuckridge told the Mhala Court that she was asleep with her husband and their children aged 7 and 12 years when they were awaken by a sound of footsteps in the house.

The trio described as heartless, accosted and threatened them with a pistol, screw driver and a broken beer bottle. They pointed the couple with the firearm, demanded cash and cellphones. 

It was during that incident that the three men took turns raping this woman. After the family’s ordeal, the accused locked them in the house and fled the scene with their keys, a plasma television, cellphones and cash. It later emerged that the suspect gained entry through a window.

When news broke, the community vowed that those involved arrested and their word became a reality when only a few days later they managed to spot the suspects and alerted the police. The three men arrested at their various hideouts.

Further investigations and DNA evidence confirmed the three men as the ones responsible for the vicious crime.

“This victory goes to the Bushbuckridge community, who worked tirelessly with the police in solving this matter. I am delighted to see citizens of this country particularly in Mpumalanga viewing crime as an unwanted act that ought to be rooted out. As the police in this province, we welcome the hefty sentences hanged on the necks of these senseless individuals and hope they will serve as a deterrent to other potential criminals,” said Lieutenant General Ntobela.