“He carried a gun to shoot the boyfriend, raped their girlfriends from behind, smoked dagga in between the rape sessions, ordered the women to caress his penis, bought them R5 airtime the following day, sent apologetic messages and even phoned them.”
That was the summary of Judge Buyiswa Majiki of the Mthatha High Court, South Africa last Thursday when he found serial rapist Siphenkosi Simanga guilty on 17 counts, including rape, murder and attempted murder , he described Simanga as not remorseful.
As a serial rapist Simanga (32) had terrorized Tsolo area for a period of six months – May to September 2013 – raping women and shooting their boyfriends.
His anti-social antics forced two of her victims who were final year Senior High School students to drop out of school.
The modus operandi of the man – from Mdibanisweni village of Ntibane administrative area in Tsolo – was the same for all his crimes.
Many of his highly traumatized victims broke down while testifying the trial, as the incidents recurred repeatedly in their minds.
Simanga first pounced on May 7 2013 when he attacked a couple, robbed them of R7 and their cellphones, and shot the man dead. The he raped the woman at gunpoint.
Less than a month later on June 2 near Qanda village, Simanga again approached a couple, shot the boyfriend in the groin and the woman on her buttocks.
He then raped the wounded woman in a nearby field for six hours, and in between sucking blood from her bullet wound with assurances that he wanted to heal her. He later accompanied her to Dr Malizo Mpehle Hospital in Tsolo, but turned away at the door.
Two months later on August 16, he attacked another couple near Ntabelanga village, shot the boyfriend in the leg and raped the girlfriend for eight hours.
He was eventually arrested at his home on November 2, 2013.
The prosecution called for a life sentence.
But Defence advocate Sabelo Dingiswayo told the court that despite DNA results positively linking his client to the crimes, he maintained his innocence.
