Taxi driver sentenced to life in prison for rape

The East London District Court sentenced Luthando Veli, 35, to life imprisonment for raping a 31-year-old passenger and also sentenced him to five years for attempting to rape another 23-year-old woman he was giving a lift.

The court ordered the sentences to be imposed concurrently.

National Prosecuting Authority (Eastern Cape Division) regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said: “On November 21, 2020, the woman hitchhiked to Southernwood on Oxford Street in the East London district.

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A Toyota Avanza, acting as a taxi, stopped for them and promised to take them to their destination.

She got into the motor vehicle and the driver drove past her destination and refused to stop for her. He stopped at a secluded place, dragged the female passenger out of the vehicle, assaulted her and raped her.”

On February 7, 2021, another woman hitchhiked from Mdantsane to the city of East London. A taxi stopped for them and there was only the driver inside.

On the Black Road between Mdantsane and East London, the driver said he wanted to check for other passengers so he turned off which led onto a gravel road towards Reeston. The woman realized the road led into a forest and demanded to be dropped off. The driver stopped, locked all the doors and began attacking the woman, but she managed to get out through the window.

The driver chased her, tripped over her and she fell. He then climbed on top of her, took off his pants and tried to undress the woman. A passerby noticed the commotion and intervened. The driver then fled and left the vehicle at the scene of the accident.

Police located the owner of the motor vehicle involved in the abandoned vehicle and the owner stated that he had employed Luthando Veli as a driver and was using the motor vehicle as a taxi. He was then tracked down, arrested and linked to the other rape case.

“During the trial, Veli pleaded not guilty and admitted that he was in fact the driver of the vehicle involved in the first incident, but that it had been stolen from him earlier that day. He claimed that the second victim accepted his love proposal and agreed to go to the forest to have sex, but could not explain why the woman ran away from him. The court rejected his version as a fabrication and accepted the evidence of prosecutor Vuyisa Langa, including forensic evidence collected at the Mdantsane Thuthuzela Care Center where both victims received psychosocial and medical treatment following their ordeal.”

Court Preparation Officer Maki Menqe prepared both complainants before they testified and their victim impact statements on both charges were submitted and taken into account for sentencing.

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The State argued that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances that would justify a departure from the mandatory minimum sentence, and the court agreed.

“Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Barry Madolo commended the prosecutor, investigating officer, CPO and TCC staff for the diligent collection and presentation of evidence,” Tyali concluded.