By Jonk wa Mashamba
Editor-In-Chief
The Pretoria High Court sitting in Benoni has found the Tsakane graveyard serial rapist Petetona Abel Lebele (43), guilty of four counts of rape as well as four counts of kidnapping.
These offences were committed against four females, aged 7, 13, 16, and 32 over 3 years, from January 2017 until August 2019, when he was arrested.
In his guilty plea, he told the court that he targeted his victims when they were on their way to school or home.
According to Lumka Mahanjana,
NPA spokesperson, Lebele also told the court that he would grab and drag the victims to the Tsakane cemetery where he raped them.
“His first and youngest victim was a 7-year-old minor. On 19 January 2017 when the minor was on her way to school, she met with Lebele, he called her and told her to come to collect sweets.
“The minor refused and started running. However, Lebele caught up with her, dragged her to the cemetery, raped and left her.
“When he raped the 32-year-old woman on 19 August 2019, she had her 2-year-old child on her back. Before raping her, he pushed the 2-year-old on the ground and proceeded to rape the mother,” said Mahanjana.
In court, the state prosecutor Advocate Lawrence Sivhidzho told the court that Lebele had two previous convictions. That of theft in 2015 and robbery in 2008, when he was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Mahanjana said the matter was postponed to 19 April 2023, for sentencing proceedings.