Pretoria - The Pretoria High Court, sitting in Palm Ridge found Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi guilty of 90 counts of rape, four counts of compelled rape, three counts of compelling or causing a child to witness a sexual act, 43 counts of kidnapping, two counts of assault as well as four counts of theft.
Gauteng spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Lumka Mahanjana said Phakathi committed the cocktail of offences in and around Ekurhuleni, from 2012 until 2021, when he was arrested.
“The majority of his victims were school-going children, the youngest being nine-years-old, while the oldest was a 44-year-old female,” Mahanjana narrated.
“Initially, Phakathi was facing 203 charges. However, the State withdrew 55 minor charges. In court, Phakathi pleaded guilty to 148 charges and his guilty plea statement was read in court.
The serial rapist targeted his victims while they were going or coming back from school or work in the mornings or evenings.
“However, he targeted some in their own homes. He would pretend to be an electrician coming to fix a geyser or other household appliances and rape them. He raped some of his victims in the presence of children, in some instances when raping more than one person at a time, he made the other watch while raping the other, whereafter he would run or leave the house,” said Mahanjana.
Phakathi was arrested and linked to some of the offences through DNA evidence, and a modus operandi linkage report.
Mahanjana said a total of 96 dockets were investigated by warrant officer Tlala John Mokoena, of the SAPS.
Following Phakathi’s appearance on Tuesday, the matter was postponed to 8 and 9 December, for the pre-sentencing report and continuation of sentencing proceedings.
Earlier this month, #NotInMyName activists called for lengthy jail terms when Phakathi is sentenced.
“The sentence must be as harsh as possible for this animal. The courts must lock him up and throw away the key. We have just concluded the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide summit, and the president was sounding very performative. He was saying all the right things, but what is needed now is action on the ground,” secretary general of #NotInMyName Themba Masango told IOL.
“Very harsh sentences need to be given out so that would-be perpetrators can be afraid. They need to be deterred from committing these heinous crimes.”
IOL
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