A man has been sentenced for a string of crimes.
- Phomolo Ngo’s crime spree started in 2013 and ended when he was arrested in 2018.
- He was found guilty of several charges, including rape, kidnapping and housebreaking.
- The prosecutor described him as a serial rapist who would have continued if he was not arrested.
A 33-year-old from Bloemfontein in the Free State has been sentenced to an effective 50 years in prison after being found guilty of a string of crimes, including rape, kidnapping and housebreaking.
According to a statement by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Phomolo Ngo went on a five-year crime spree, breaking into houses and raping the homeowners before fleeing with their belongings.
NPA spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said Ngo committed his first offence on 15 September 2013 when he broke into a house during the night, threatened the homeowner with a knife and raped her.
“Further on 6 November 2013, he broke into the house of another woman who was asleep with her little sister,” Shuping added.
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“He dragged her to an open field and raped her. On 9 December of the same year, he broke into a house of another woman, dragged her to a nearby toilet and raped her. He also stole a cellular phone.”
“On 6 July 2015, he broke into the house of the fourth victim, threatened her with a knife and forced her to a shack where he raped her. He also stole her cellular phone.”
Ngo struck again on 2 September 2018 when he broke into the house of his fifth victim. The woman was asleep with her three-year-old daughter when she was awoken by a balaclava-clad man.
Sentencing
He raped her and then stole her cellphone.
During sentencing proceedings, state advocate Marius Strauss described Ngo as a serial rapist who would have continued with his crime spree if he had not been arrested.
“South Africa is plagued by sexual offences and women in this country are not even safe in their houses with closed doors and windows because of people like the accused,” Strauss said.
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“He clearly watched these women to know that they are staying alone, and they are easy targets. He showed no remorse and he must be removed from the society.”
On Tuesday in the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein, Judge Sylvia Daniso sentenced Ngo to 10 years for each of the five counts of housebreaking with intent to rape and rape, five years for each of three counts of kidnapping and two years for each of the three counts of theft, Shuping said.
Daniso ordered the sentences for kidnapping and theft to run concurrently with the sentences for housebreaking with intent to rape and rape. She also declared him unfit to possess a firearm.
