Pretoria - The Brits Magistrate’s Court on Friday sentenced a serial rapist, Jacobs Boase Kgatlane, 41, to four life terms and 80 years’ imprisonment.
Kgatlane was found guilty of 10 counts of rape and nine counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances. He was acquitted on one count of rape and kidnapping after the witness was not available to testify.
Kgatlane raped a total of 14 women between 2009 and 2013. Six of the women were below the age of 18. The youngest of his victims was 14 years old, while the oldest was 37 years old.
“He would target women walking at night, threaten them with a knife or tell them he has a gun. He would then drag them to nearby bushes, stadium toilets and abandoned buildings, where he raped them,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.
Mahanjana said Kgatlane was arrested in August 2013 in Mpumalanga after an informer told the police of his whereabouts. Police also found a phone he took from one of his victims.
He has been in custody since his arrest.
For mitigating factors, his legal representatives asked for a linear sentence, saying Kgatlane had been in custody since 2013.
“However, the State prosecutor told the court that if pretrial incarceration is taken as substantial and compelling circumstances then that would defeat the purpose of minimum sentence.
“He further told the court that women have a right to walk freely on the streets, go and come back from work without fear which diminishes their quality of life. Therefore, he asked the court to impose the prescribed minimum sentence,” Mahanjana added.
IOL