Bhekithemba Fanozi Nxumalo has been sentenced to 12 terms of life imprisonment and an additional 75 years in jail in the Mtubatuba High Court for a string of rapes.
The sentence was handed down on 10 June 2024.
"Nxumalo's reign of terror started in July 2012 when he broke into a house in Mdungandlovu Reserve around midnight and found an elderly woman asleep with her two granddaughters.
"Nxumalo demanded money from the granny at knife point and when he could not find any, he raped her 24-year-old granddaughter.
"The granny and the younger granddaughter were saved by the 24-year-old granddaughter, who managed to send a call back to her brother, who came to their rescue. Nxumalo managed to escape into darkness," said the police in a statement.
According to the police, Nxumalo continued his raping spree, targeting young women who were walking alone.
He would drag them into the bushes and sugarcane fields, and threaten them with a knife before raping them.
In most of the cases, he would rape his victims more than once.
"His 10-year raping spree was brought to an abrupt end when police cornered and arrested him in April 2021. Nxumalo's application for an appeal was refused and he was also declared unfit to possess a firearm," said police.
The police said the investigative work by the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit ensured an end to the 42-year-old's rape spree.
In other convictions, the Empangeni FCS Unit secured a lifetime imprisonment sentence for a 59-year-old man who was found guilty of raping his eight-year-old stepdaughter.
The Esikhaleni Regional Court heard that the stepfather raped the little girl several times when her mother was not around.
The court also sentenced a 58-year-old man to a term of life imprisonment following a guilty verdict on a case of rape in which he raped his 12-year-old granddaughter in Madlankala in February 2024.
The Empangeni Regional Court has also handed a 25-year prison sentence to a 25-year-old man who was found guilty of assaulting and raping his 22-year-old girlfriend.
According to the police, the victim had to be hospitalised after she attempted suicide after the rape ordeal.
