Most cruel murder: No prospect of release for heartless killer and rapist

The Middelburg High Court sentenced Joseph Thabang Selepe (30) to four life sentences for two counts of murder and two counts of rape committed in Kwaggafontein in the KwaMhlanga district.

The crimes were committed between March 2020 and May 2021.

Selepe’s modus operandi was to drive his victims to remote areas, rape them and strangle them to death.

The first victim, Pauline Sangweni, lived one street away from the accused’s home.

On 20 March 2020, the victim left Kwaggafontein A with the intention of taking a taxi to KwaMhlanga but never returned home.

Her half-naked body was found the following day near Sokapo Secondary School.

The second victim, Zanele Mnguni from KwaMhlanga, was last seen by her siblings on 11 December 2021 when she left home to go to Kwaggafontein Mall.

Mnguni also did not return home.

The next day, she was found raped and killed by a passerby, near the same school where the body of the first victim had been discovered.

The defendant was linked to the crimes through his DNA after he inserted his SIM card into the mobile phone of one of the victims.

In court, the defendant pleaded his innocence and denied all charges against him.

Prosecutor Themba Lusenga heard testimony from several witnesses, including a pathologist who confirmed that both victims had been raped and then strangled.

Following the brutal rapes, the victims died a cruel death by manual strangulation.

In order to increase the sentence, lawyer Lusenga stated in court that the defendant had treated the victims “like animals by leaving them lying defenseless and half-naked on the street”.

When handing down the verdict, Judge Kgankie Phahlamohlaka saw no reason to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.

He sentenced Selepe to four life sentences.