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Convicted Ekurhuleni serial rapist Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi has been sentenced to 42 life terms, 791 years and six months' imprisonment.
The counts included rape, sexual assault, kidnapping, compelling or causing a child to witness a sexual act and theft.
He appeared in the Pretoria high court sitting in Palm Ridge magistrate's court in Ekurhuleni on Friday.
Acting judge Lesego Makolomakwe said the sentence would send a message that crime against women and children will not be tolerated.
She said she had considered mitigating and aggravating factors, evidence presented and the impact of the crimes on victims and their families.
“The motive for the offences remains unknown. The use of a firearm and a knife indicates the offences were premeditated. The accused would approach some of the victims in their houses,” she said. Some of the children were raped while wearing school uniforms and on their way to school.
Phakathi terrorised girls and women in Ekurhuleni, mostly in areas east of Benoni.
He was arrested at Barcelona section in Etwatwa. His rape spree dates to 2012, with victims aged from nine to the 40s, whom he would follow in Daveyton, Putfontein, Crystal Park and Etwatwa.
He has been in prison for more than three years since his arrest in March 2021. He was shot in the leg as he allegedly fled from police officers who had come to arrest him and the leg has since been amputated.
Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana welcomed the sentencing.
“This is one of the biggest sentences handed down. Though we understand the victims might not recover from what happened to them, we hope they find justice from this sentence,” she said.
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