2 life terms plus 317 years for serial rapist targeting women and girls walking alone at night

AMpumalanga serial rapist has been sentenced to two life terms plus 317 years for his crime spree by the High Court sitting in Klerksdorp.

Kabelo Anderson Tserema, 43, was charged on 11 dockets with 45 counts, including rape, robbery, kidnapping, and assault. Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone said Tserema was identified through forensic evidence.

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“Ten of the cases were registered in Mogwase and one in Phokeng between May 2013 and February 2016. Following a lengthy investigation, the accused was identified through forensic leads. He was arrested on February 11, 2020, and has been in custody since then,” Mokgwabone said.

During the trial, the court heard that Tserema’s modus operandi was waiting and attacking a woman walking alone at night. He would then grab them and drag them to nearby bushes or graveyards.

The victims range between ages 16 and 36 and most incidents took place in Lerome and Welgeval villages near Moruleng.

During arguments, State Prosecutor Advocate Nangamso Goloda submitted that Tserema needed to be removed from society for life to protect the women of this country.

“It is an egregious state of affairs that more than two decades after the advent of our constitution which guarantees the rights to privacy, rights to bodily integrity, and right to freedom of movement there are people like Mr Tserema who make it their business to violate such rights against women in our society,” Goloda said.

When delivering his judgment, Judge Pieterson said Tserema killed the victims physically and emotionally.

Tserema was sentenced to two life terms for rape, ten years each for eight counts of rape, 15 years each for 12 counts of robbery, five years each for 11 counts of kidnapping, and six months each for four counts of assault. The court ordered that all sentences run concurrently with the life sentences.