Serial rapist from KZN receives 12 life sentences and 75 years behind bars

A 42-year-old man was sentenced to a long prison term for a series of rapes lasting nine years.

Between July 2012 and April 2021, Bhekithemba Fanozi Nxumalo raped numerous women, many of them schoolgirls, in the King Cetshwayo district of KZN.

Nxumalo pleaded guilty to 17 counts of rape and the less serious count of burglary and was sentenced to 12 life sentences and 75 years in prison by the High Court in Mtubatuba.

Young girls abused

Nxumalo’s youngest victim was a 14-year-old girl; all victims were unknown to the attacker.

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The rapist’s strategy usually involved threatening the women with a weapon after attacking them on their way to school or home. In one case, he broke into the woman’s home to commit his violent crime.

“All of them said that they were psychologically traumatised after the incident and are now terrified of being alone. Some of the complainants said that they stopped going to school after the incident because of fear,” said NPA KZN spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara.

Nxumalo was brought down after his last victim was able to give a detailed description of the man to community members.

A community search led to the discovery of Nxumalo and he was subsequently handed over to the authorities. The woman positively identified her rapist and DNA evidence later linked him to the other crimes.

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Evidence and statements from the victims, who said they were still plagued by flashbacks and sleepless nights, led the court to pass the appropriate sentence.

“The NPA welcomes this successful prosecution and we commend the work of the Public Prosecution Service and the police. It is our duty to fight for justice on behalf of the victims of crime,” concluded Ramkisson-Kara.