The warrant officer's work helped to bring justice for the victims.

Listen to this article 3 min Listen to this article 3 min In a year in which the South African Police Service came under unprecedented scrutiny and criticism, warrant officer Sonwabile Dlomo, a detective in the Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations Unit in Zwelitsha, East London, worked without pause to bring one of the province's worst serial rapists to book.

Dlomo, who joined the service 19 years ago, said he always wanted to become a police officer. He has been within the family violence, child protection and sexual offences environment since 2010.

To date, Dlomo has secured 23 life terms and 594 years for 16 rapists who are now behind bars.

In June 2024, the Makhanda High Court sentenced Lesotho national Glass Lechesa to six life terms and an additional 125 years' imprisonment on multiple counts of rape, robbery with aggravated circumstances and common robbery. Lechesa conducted a reign of terror between October 2015 and December 2022 in Joubertina and Addo in the Eastern Cape, with five of his victims being between the ages of 14 and 17 years old.

According to papers before court he would hide his face with a balaclava and use a knife and a firearm...