'I will heal, he caused us great pain': Victims welcome 42 life terms for Ekurhuleni serial rapist

One of the women who was raped by convicted Ekurhuleni serial rapist Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi, 40, believes she will be able to heal after the man who caused her immense pain was sent to prison. 

Talking after the sentencing of Phakathi at the Pretoria high court sitting in Palm Ridge magistrate's court, she said there was a time when she felt the justice system had failed the victims. 

“I am happy because there were times we thought the law had failed us. There was a time when this case disappeared, and we never heard about it and we thought it was over. But this goes to show that work was being done behind the scenes and police worked hard in this case,” she said.

She said police did not fail the victims and even though they were hurt, they were grateful for the outcome after a lengthy trial.

“Now I am going for counselling to try to heal. I was not fine, but after today, hopefully, we will be fine,” she said.

A mother whose daughter was raped in front of her child said she was relieved even though what Phakathu took from them could never be regained.

“There is a void in our hearts, in our families. He caused us a great pain — the joy that we used to have as families was shattered,” she said.

She said they were thankful to the team of police investigators who pieced together the evidence and nailed the serial rapist. Some police officials from as far afield as Pretoria and Mpumalanga were always in Daveyton police station trying to solve the case, she said. 

“They came to Daveyton trying to solve this X that wasn't solvable. We are thankful today that it is solved, and I so wish that this will be a lesson to all the perpetrators that you cannot play around with people’s lives.”

She added that she was so hurt and she had to go through a lot, including talking not just her child but her grandchild to counselling. 

During the sentencing, Phakathi covered his face with a face mask. She said the court should not have allowed that so the world could see the face of the man who had perpetrated these evil deeds. 

A mother whose daughter was raped said her child is in grade 11 and struggling to cope since the ordeal four years ago. 

“Sometimes a child cries, and you don’t know what she is crying for. Sometimes, a child doesn’t want to learn. We thank God for today. We thank the police team of police, Mr [W/O Tlala John] Mokoena and his team, because if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have been here,” she said.

She added that without the hard work of the police, Phakathi would not have been sentenced.

Phakathi was sentenced to 42 life terms plus an additional 791 years and six months' imprisonment. Acting judge Lesego Makolomakwe ordered that his name be added to the National Register for Sexual Offenders and the National Child Protection Register.

She also ordered that the victims be informed when Phakathi is considered for parole to enable them to make representations.

In November 2022 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 and four counts of theft.

Phakathi terrorised girls and women in Ekurhuleni, mostly in areas east of Benoni.

He was arrested at Barcelona section in Etwatwa. His rape spree dated back to 2012. Some of his victims, whom he would follow in Daveyton, Putfontein, Crystal Park and Etwatwa, were as young as nine while some were in their 40s.

Most of his victims were schoolgoing children. He pleaded guilty to 148 charges.

He targeted his victims while they were on their way to or returning from school or work in the morning or evening.

He also targeted some in their homes. He would pretend to be an electrician coming to fix a geyser or other household appliances and rape them. He raped some of his victims in front of children, in some instances raping more than one person at a time.

While raping one of them he would make the others watch before fleeing the scene. National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Phakathi was arrested and linked to some of the offences through DNA evidence and a modus operandi linkage report.

“A total of 96 dockets were investigated by W/O Tlala John Mokoena of the SA Police Service. The NPA welcomes the sentence, hoping that the sentence will send a strong message that the NPA takes matters of sexual offences seriously. We also thank the dedication and commitment of the investigating officer,” she said. 

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