A 38-year-old man convicted of raping middle-aged women around Suurman settlement and Temba in the Gauteng province has been sentenced to three life sentences and an additional 25 years in prison.
He was arrested in 2015 after he was positively linked by DNA. Benjamin Bapela refused to come to the dock of the Temba Magistrate’s court, near Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.
Magistrate Desmond Humphreys handed down judgment in his absence. He says Bapela undermined the victims and the court.
He was not granted leave to appeal and he was declared unfit to possess a firearm, his sentences will run concurrently.
Some of the victims were in court and could not hold back their tears when the magistrate handed down the sentence.
“He choked me, there was a brick, he used that brick on my head and then I started screaming, and then I was running until I fell down and then he took another brick, and then beat me on my head again. So that time I was helpless, begging for my life, so he ended up raping me, honestly, I am broken.”
“It’s been a long time waiting for this day to come, am just glad it comes, cause all I wanted was him to get a life sentence that’s it, so that my heart can be at peace. At least I can sleep and then less stress.”
