DNA has linked a serial rapist to 12 cases in six towns across Lejweleputswa.
Richard Bongani Mazibuko (42), who also goes by the surname Dlangezwa, was arrested for a house robbery that took place in 2019. During that incident he broke into a house in Welkom, and raped a 12-year-old girl. After the rape he took valuable items from the house.
He has been linked to cases of rape that were reported in Welkom, Thabong, Bultfontein, Bothaville, Odendaalsrus and Virginia, and date back as far as January 2011.
“His criminal behaviour advanced and he got some accomplices who would go with him to houses to rob the occupants. In some incidents, Mazibuko would rape a woman. The case against him has been transferred to the Serial and Electronic Crime Investigations (Seci) Unit in the Free State, who will work in collaboration with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA),” says Capt. Loraine Earle, spokesperson for the SAPS in the Free State.
Mazibuko’s case has been postponed to 22 August for further investigation.
In two recent rape incidents not associated with this case, two woman were raped in Thabong and Kutloanong on 3 and 5 August.
In the first incident a taxi driver and his accomplice are being sought after an 18-year-old girl was kidnapped, assaulted and drugged on 3 August.
After other passengers got out of the taxi she was travelling in, the young woman requested the driver to take her to a specific destination in Thabong.
“Instead, he took her in the direction of Erfdeel Road, where he parked the vehicle in the bush. He whistled and three African men wearing balaclavas, carrying beer crates appeared. The third one refused to take part in the rape and left,” says Capt. Stephen Thakeng, media liaison officer for the SAPS in Lejweleputswa.
The men muzzled the girl with a cloth so that she could not scream and proceeded to rape her. After the rape ordeal, she was forced inside the boot, while half naked, dizzy and injected on her buttocks,” says Thakeng.
He says they abandoned the half naked girl next to the Thubelisha car wash in Thabong, where she was rescued by two couples who took her to the police station.
The wanted vehicle is a navy blue Toyota Tazz, which operates as a taxi. The number plates are not known. The driver is light in complexion.
In the second incident, a 25-year-old woman, who lives in K5 Section of Kutloanong, took a four-plus-one-taxi to her home.
“While she was still in the taxi, the driver requested to fetch his girlfriend at the crossing of K6 Section of Kutloanong. She was surprised when he continued in the direction of Welkom. When she asked him about this, he became aggressive and forced her to smell a cloth with a substance on it,” says Thakeng.
Thakeng says the taxi, a white Hyundai, parked beside the road next to Harcos farm, Odendaalsrus.
“When the victim refused to smell the cloth, she was pushed out of the taxi. She was rendered unconscious and did not know what happened next. When she regained consciousness she found that her pants were beneath her knees, her clothes were torn and she realized that she had been raped,” says Thakeng.
He says residents are sternly warned to be careful.
“They must use a taxi that has a sign clearly indicating that it is a taxi to curb these rapes against our women and girls,” says Thakeng.
Anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the rapists are requested to dial 071-032-2512 or the Crime Stop number 08600-10111.
