Mpumalanga convicted serial rapist to be sentenced

Haarmans Nnogana Nakeme Mokoena-Aphane was convicted of 11 counts of rape, eight for armed robbery, two for kidnapping, three for assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, as well as possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition on August 21 for crimes committed in KwaMhlanga in Mpumalanga between 2011 and 2014.

Mpumalanga police spokesman Colonel Leonard Hlathi said Mokoena-Aphane was arrested in February last year, after an incident where he raped a 17-year-old girl in January of the same year.

“He was traced and nabbed in his hideout at Dennilton in Limpopo. During further probe, it was discovered that the accused was previously nabbed on the same offence committed during September 2012, where he forcefully took siblings, aged 14 and 19, into a shack in KwaMhlanga and repeatedly raped them together with his accomplice who passed on last year,” Hlathi said.

He said the case was provisionally withdrawn while the court was waiting for the DNA test result.

“At the result of the DNA, the accused was linked with four more cases where he targeted victims aged between 17 and 28. In those cases, the High Court heard that the accused used a firearm to threaten the victims, forced them to the nearby bushes of Vezubuhle also in KwaMhlanga and repeatedly raped them as well.”

Hlathi said in three of those incidents, the victims were accompanied by their partners who were assaulted, robbed of their belongings and chased away.