Publications
Partners
At a circuit court sitting held in Ficksburg, the Free State High Court sentenced rapist Sello Thomas Khafu (34) to long-term imprisonment – without the possibility of parole – for raping and robbing seven women.
He was sentenced on 2 August.
The convict was referred to as the golf course rapist after committing the crimes at a sporting facility in the Eastern Free State.
Capt. Phumelelo Dhlamini, police spokesperson, said Khafu preyed on and took advantage of women using lifts at a hiking spot on the corner of Erwee and Macabe Street in Ficksburg.
“He told them that if they are in a hurry to reach their destination, they can accompany him to his car parked at the Ficksburg Golf Club.
“When they arrived on the scene, the convict threatened the victims with a firearm or a knife and raped them. He then robbed them of their personal belongings and fled the scene,” said Dhlamini.
“At times he attacked his victims together with two of his unknown friends.”
Khafu’s reign of terror ended when he was arrested on 24 October last year after a 21-year-old woman was raped on 13 September.
“Some of the victims positively identified him from the line-up at the Ficksburg Correctional Services,” said Dhlamini.
He said investigation revealed that during June in 2016, a 23-year-old woman fell prey to Khafu’s modus operandi.
“Khafu received 20 years imprisonment for each count of rape, and ten years for each count of robbery. The sentences will run concurrently, and he will serve 30 years in prison.
“He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm,” said Dhlamini.
Const. Thabiso Kobeli was assigned to investigate the case.
