Record: 42 Life Sentences, Plus 791 Years In Prison For Serial Rapist Nkosinathi Phakathi

LOCKED AWAY FOR LIFE: Serial rapist Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi has been sentenced to 42 life terms and 791 years in prison for raping 90 females, most of them schoolgirls. He lost his leg when he was shot by police during his arrest

Pretoria – Serial rapist Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi, who was found guilty of 90 counts of rape and other crimes, has been sentenced to 42 life terms and 791 years and six months of direct imprisonment.

On Friday, (4 October 2024), the Pretoria High Court, sitting in Palm Ridge, handed down what has to be the harshest sentence in living memory to the 40-year-old Ekurhuleni serial rapist.

In addition, the court ordered that Phakathi be declared unfit to possess a firearm, and his name be added to the National Register for Sexual Offenders and the National Child Protection Register.

Phakathi was found 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.

Phakathi committed these offences in and around Ekurhuleni, between June 2012 and March 2021 when he was arrested.

The accused lost a leg when he was shot by police during his arrest.

In court, Phakathi cut a sorry figure as he held onto his clutches while burying his head in his chest to avoid being photographed. He also wore a surgical mask.

During the trial, it was established that most of Phakathi’s victims were school-going children, the youngest being only nine years old.

His oldest known victim was a 44-year-old female.

Initially, Phakathi was facing 203 charges, however, the state withdrew 55 minor charges.

In court, he pleaded guilty to 148 charges.

The accused targeted his victims while they were going or coming back from school or work in the morning or evening.

He also brazenly attacked some of them in their own homes.

To gain access to his victims’ homes, Phakathi would pretend to be an electrician answering a call to fix a geyser or other household appliances.

The court heard that Phakathi raped some of his victims in the presence of children, in some instances raping more than one person.

Depraved, Phakathi would force some of his victims to watch as he assaulted their relatives.

Phakathi was arrested and linked to some of the offences through DNA evidence, and a modus operandi linkage report.

As many as 96 dockets implicating Phakathi in violent crimes were investigated by warrant officer Tlala John Mokoena of the South African Police Service.

Phakathi was convicted of the crimes on 8 November 2022.

During sentencing proceedings the accused asked the court, through his legal representative, to be lenient when imposing sentence.

He asked the court to consider the three years and six months he spent in custody while awaiting finalisation of the case.

Phakathi claimed that as an amputee he was not the same person he was when he committed the offences.

He told the court that he was no longer physically able to commit similar crimes he had been convicted for offences.

However, the prosecutor, Advocate Salome Scheepers argued that Phakathi committed serious offences and deserved a harsh sentence.

Advocate Scheepers said rape is a very serious offence, as it causes humiliation, degrading and brutal invasion of the privacy and dignity of the victim.

Not only did he rape his victims, but he also forced young boys to rape their female friends and terrorised some of his victims in their homes.

Furthermore, Advocate Scheepers said Phakathi showed no remorse for the offences, and only pleaded guilty because the state had overwhelming evidence against him.

Advocate Scheepers also read victim impact statements, where in some of the victims wrote about how the offences affected them.

One of the victims who was a virgin at the time of the incident, said Phakathi stole her innocence as she cannot participate in the virginity testing ceremony.

The Acting Judge, Lesego Makolomakwe agreed with the state that Phakathi showed no remorse and was beyond rehabilitation.

Furthermore, the judge said the courts had a responsibility to protect communities against perpetrators such as Phakathi.

The judge said she found no compelling and substantial circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.

Commenting on the matter, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it “welcomes the sentence hoping that it will send a strong message that the NPA takes matters of sexual offences seriously”.

Gauteng NPA Spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana added: “We also thank the dedication and commitment of the investigating officer, Warrant Officer Tlala John Mokoena, which led to the conviction and sentence”.