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'Serial rapist' case continues

Johannesburg - It was not a high profile case. There were no photographers and cameramen scrumming for the best shots of a phalanx of celebrity lawyers, nor was there a prosecutor delivering clever lines via a live television feed.

Amanda* stood in the almost empty Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court and quietly relayed her story through an interpreter. She sat in the witness stand with a grey towel wrapped around her waist and her hair brushed into an upstyle.

In the dock was Peter Dashboy Khoza, in a green hoodie and chinos, with chains around his ankles.

Khoza has pleaded not guilty to raping Amanda as he faces 39 charges of kidnapping, 37 charges of rape, 37 charges of grievous bodily harm, 11 charges of sexual assault, 27 charges of attempted murder and five charges of theft which have been rolled into 26 cases.

There are about 100 witnesses lined up to testify against him.

He is believed to be behind these crimes, the first of which occurred in 2007 in Phalaborwa, and the rest around Tembisa and the Eldorado Park area until his arrest in Eldorado Park in June 2013.

During the morning session before Judge Eben Jordaan, Amanda said Khoza had approached her in May 2013 when she was playing with friends in Slovo Park near Eldorado Park.

He claimed he needed to buy milk, but a shop he had been to did not have change. He asked her and a friend Belinda* to show him where the shop was he had been told would have change.

She said they went with him past the houses in Slovo Park on the Johannesburg's East Rand to a clearing, where he told them to sit down.

She said he moved them to another area saying it was dangerous where they were and they settled in near a huge water pipe where he made a fire for them.

Suddenly, he had pulled out a knife; told her friend to lie down; gave Amanda condoms and told her to undress and lie down.

He penetrated her making "up and down" movements and afterwards told her to relax.

When he heard noises, he moved them to another place and over there rubbed Vaseline with a black substance on to her private parts and told her to do the same to him. He also rubbed the Vaseline on her friend and ordered her friend to sleep.

He lay on her again and penetrated her again.

"It was because he rubbed us with this stuff that turned us into idiots," she said, as prosecutor advocate Nerissa Muller led her through her evidence.

"That stuff made us follow him or... comply with everything he was telling us," said the girl, now 17. The alleged rape took place just before she turned 14.

Picking apart the evidence

The next morning, the three walked to a freeway and he was separated from them saying he needed to relieve himself.

When they got on to the freeway, they saw a police vehicle with both their mothers inside.

They made a statement to police and were taken to be medically examined.

However, Khoza's lawyer Livingstone Nkuna picked apart her evidence-in-chief, questioning her understanding of time and why she had not mentioned he gave her his cellphone to hold at one point. He also disputed Khoza had a "half tooth", as she had claimed when identifying him.

"I will never forget his face, because he did something bad to me," she said.

At one point she appeared to be confused about her age, saying she was 16 when the alleged rape occurred.

Nkuna also wanted to know why she had not mentioned he had said he wanted to marry her, according to previous statements.

"I forgot to mention this aspect, because he said a lot of things," she said. She added although she signed the statement she made to the police, she did not read it.

She had also not said in her evidence at one point he had taken her friend away from her for a while.

It emerged she also struggled with the concept of time, saying seconds were longer than minutes and understanding 05:55 as five o'clock.

The court also checked with her whether she knew the difference between left and right and she raised her left hand when asked to do so.

This was because she had said the size of his left eye was different to his right.

He also tore into her evidence that Khoza had pointed and smiled at her during the identity parade, saying this had taken place through one-way glass where he could not have seen her. He said her evidence was a fabrication and he was not even in Eldorado Park at the time.

Eventually during re-examination Muller asked Amanda who had raped her and she had pointed to Khoza.

Amanda's mother was called as the next witness.

* Names have been changed

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