Byline: Refeloe Letsoisa

29 April 2024

Mandla Siwela /Malikane (30) has been convicted and sentenced to 4 life terms and an additional 78-year imprisonment by the Graskop high court.

Siwela was convicted on four counts of rape, one count of attempted rape, one count of murder, two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, and three counts of housebreaking. 

These crimes were committed between November 2013 and December 2017 in Violetbank, Bushbuckridge, and Clau-Clau in the district of Nsikazi. 

The accused, together with his unknown accomplice, would threaten the victims with a hammer, rape them, and rob them of their valuables, like cellphones and clothing items. 

One of the victims is a pensioner (72), and the other victim was gang raped. 

In one incident that happened on 03 November 2013, near Violetbank, the accused and his unknown accomplice came across a minor victim (13) walking on the street. 

They grabbed her and raped her, taking turns. 

Again, on the evening of 12 August 2015, the accused broke into the house of Lina Ngwenyama (72), in Violetbank Trust.

He raped and assaulted her in the head. 

The victim was taken to the hospital and later succumbed to the injuries. 

The accused continued with his crime spree until 10 December 2017, when he armed himself with a hammer, broke into a house in Clau-Clau, and found two victims sleeping. 

He raped one victim and attempted to rape the other one.  He then fled the scene with their cellphones. 

The accused was linked to the crimes through DNA. 

In court, the accused denied raping the victims and claimed consent. 

Advocate Antionette Nkosi led the testimonies of the complainants, first reports, and medical reports. 

The deceased’s grandson, who was in the house when the incident happened, also testified that he woke up and saw his grandmother bleeding profusely. 

Advocate Nkosi handed in positive DNA results linking the accused to the offence, including a postmortem report confirming that the deceased’s cause of death was head injury and bleeding. 

The court found the accused guilty as charged. 

In aggravation of sentence, Nkosi told the court that the accused did not show remorse for his actions throughout the trial, that he had no respect for anyone, and that the victims were disturbed by the accused’s actions. 

Victim impact statements, facilitated by Court Preparation Officer Nomfundo Mokoena, were handed in. 

One victim stated that she misses her grandmother, especially the love she gave them as a family. 

Another victim detailed that after the ordeal, she started to be rebellious and is not coping. 

The accused’s circumstances did not warrant the court to deviate from the mandatory minimum sentence.  

The court sentenced the accused accordingly. 

The National Prosecuting Authority remains committed to combating gender-based violence crimes.  

It will continue to prosecute such cases without fear, favour, or prejudice by working with our partners to solve and prevent crime.