Life and 30 Years Imprisonment for Rape and Housebreaking

20 MARCH 2025
 

Life and 30 Years Imprisonment for Rape and Housebreaking

The Pinetown Regional Court sentenced Mzwelethu Lindokuhle Beni (44) to life and 30 years imprisonment for housebreaking to commit an offence, robbery with aggravating circumstances, rape, and housebreaking with intent to steal and theft. Beni committed these offences in the Northdene area in September and October 2022.

On 27 September 2022, the complainant (an adult woman) was asleep in her home when she was awoken by a sound. It was Beni who demanded her belongings, threatening to shoot her. He tied her up, gagged her mouth and raped her, before making off with two cell phones. The complainant ran outside where she flagged a passing vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was an off-duty metro police official who helped the complainant get untied and they reported the matter to the police. The complainant was taken to the R K Khan Thuthuzela Care Centre (TCC) and received the necessary assistance.

Then on 10 October 2022, another complainant (adult woman) was away from her home (which she had armed using the home alarm system) when she received a call from the security company saying that the alarm had been triggered. When she got home, she saw that her house had been broken in to and her laptop and two cell phones were missing. Beni was linked to these offences when he was arrested for another matter. He was linked via DNA and being in recent possession of some of the stolen items.

In court, Prosecutor Zibuyile Zuma led the evidence of both the complainants, the police officials who attended the crime scenes, and DNA evidence in respect of the rape charge. Beni was convicted and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for the housebreaking, 15 years imprisonment for the robbery with aggravating circumstances, life imprisonment for rape, and 10 years imprisonment for housebreaking with intent to steal and theft. He will serve an effective sentence of life imprisonment, and the court deemed him unfit to possess a firearm. Further, the court ordered that his name is entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.

The NPA hopes that sentences of this nature demonstrate our commitment to the fight against crime, moreover, gender-based violence.
 

Issued by:

Natasha Ramkisson-Kara
NPA Regional Spokesperson
KZN Division
Mobile: 0716700229