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Pretoria - A Tuks student who was raped and left for dead by a notorious criminal who had been wanted for 10 years is suing the police and the National Prosecuting Authority for failing to protect the public against a dangerous criminal.
The student had been stabbed 22 times, of which eight were potentially deadly, and raped by Samuel Tsietsi Msiza, Beeld reported in November 2011.
Msiza had been wanted since 2001 for a string of crimes, including housebreaking, rapes that involved children and murder. He was never prosecuted for any of these crimes.
Dr Johan Burger, senior researcher with the Institute for Security Studies, told Beeld in 2011 that someone who committed such violent crimes should at least have been on the police’s list of most wanted criminals.
“If the man is wanted since 2001 for violent crimes, his photographs should have been released much earlier so that police could try to find him,” said Burger.
After attacking the student, Msiza was found hitchhiking at the side of the road by police. He was seen with her laptop and had blood on his shoes.
He was taken to Dr George Mukhari hospital in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, without handcuffs or shackles after he complained that he felt ill. He then climbed through a toilet window and escaped.
Two police officers who were guarding him were arrested for defeating the ends of justice and aiding in Msiza’s escape.
Last week, Msiza was sentenced to life imprisonment, and an additional 40 years for the brutal attack on the student, Pretoria News reported.
The student lodged a damages claim of R10.6m against the police and NPA for allowing the previous cases before her rape to drag on.
Her legal team and that of the police and NPA’s have reached an agreement but the details thereof may not be published, Pretoria News stated.
