Residents from the Thohoyandou area heaved a sigh of relief after the Limpopo High Court in Thohoyandou finally sentenced a criminal who had been terrorising the communities for a long time to life plus an additional 75 years' imprisonment.
Khumbelo Buku Tshisudzungwane (23) of Unit E in Thohoyandou was sentenced on Thursday, 10 November. He was charged with 31 counts, ranging from gang rape, attempted rape, kidnapping, house robberies, housebreaking with intent to steal, robbery with aggravating circumstances, malicious injury to property and theft of motor vehicle.
The court heard that, between July 2015 and August 2016, Tshisudzungwane and his accomplice had been terrorising the communities of Makwarela, Mbaleni, Thohoyandou Unit E and Block G in the Thohoyandou area. The criminals would enter the homesteads of their victims and threaten them with a crowbar and pangas before robbing them of their vehicles, money, cellphones and other valuable items.
According to the spokesperson for the NPA in Limpopo, Ms Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, one of the victims was raped several times and abandoned in the bushes. Tshisudzungwane also attempted to rape other victims. He would force his victims into his car while driving around the location and bushes at night.
Tshisudzungwane pleaded guilty and admitted all elements of the offences referred to in the indictment. The state evidence was overwhelming, and the court found him guilty as charged. The state advocate, Robert Nekhambele, submitted that the accused had acted in common purpose to terrorise his neighbouring locations. Nekhambele described Tshisudzungwane as "heartless and arrogant" and pleaded with the court to remove him from society permanently. His sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
Tshisudzungwane's alleged accomplice, Tsireledzo Makhadi, is still in custody, awaiting trial.