Two Life Terms For Suspects Who Were Apprehended By Community Members

The Pretoria Regional Court sentenced Aubrey Mukoneni (28) and Thabang Muswe (29) from Mamelodi East, to two life sentences for raping a 43-year-old woman also from Malelodi East.  They were each convicted of 2 counts of rape and assault with intent to cause the grievous body harm. On 02 August 2018, a woman heard gunshots nearby a pub where her son was working at around 03h00am.  She went to investigate and also check at the pub if his son was not injured. When she arrived she found someone else injured and then asked community members who were at the scene to assist the injured person home.  

Mukoneni and Muswe came running towards the crowd,  the woman could not run, the man assaulted her with a sharp object and she lost consciousness. The accused dragged her to the nearby veld that was by the river and raped her,  taking turns until she regained consciousness. 

A man who was collecting waste by the river saw what happened and called the community for help. The community members apprehended the two men and assaulted them.  The accused were taken to hospital and that’s where the victim identified them as the perpetrators.  Muswe was linked to the incident by DNA, the two were arrested and have been in custody since. 

Prosecutor Mpho Monyane told the court that the are no substantial and compelling circumstances that will make the court deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.  She further reminded the court about how the incident happened, how the woman was raped while trying to assist an injured man and also asked the court to consider the Gender-Based Violence pandemic the country is currently facing when giving a sentence. 

The National Prosecuting Authority welcomes the sentence and applauds all stakeholders and community members for cooperating to ensure offenders are held accountable and brought to book. 

Issued by

Lumka Mahanjana

NPA North Gauteng Regional Spokesperson: DPP Pretoria

073 002 0000  lmahanjana@npa.gov.za