Staff Reporter
Break-ins in the dead of the night are among the most feared crimes because the perpetrators can be violent and vicious in their bid to make off with the priciest goods they can find within the shortest possible time.
But Phomolo Ngo, 33, from JB Mafora township in Bloemfontein, making off with valuables seemed accidental because his prime intension was to rape.
Ngo was this week slapped with an effective 50-year jail term after the Free State High Court found him guilty on five counts of housebreaking with intent to rape, rape, three counts of kidnapping and three counts of theft.
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 the three counts of kidnapping and three years for each of the three counts of theft.
Evidence presented in court indicated that the serial rapist, whose crime spree spanned about five years, had a weird penchant for forced sex after forced entry into the homes of his victims.
His crime spree started on September 15, 2013 when he broke into the house of the first complainant at night and threatened her with a knife before raping her.
On November 6, 2013 when he broke into a house where he found the complainant sleeping with her little sister, he dragged the woman to an open field and raped her.
About a month later on December 9, 2013, he broke into the house of a third complainant, dragged her to a nearby toilet and raped her.
He went on to steal her cellphone.
On July 6, 2015, he broke into another house where he threatened the complainant with a knife and forced her to a shack where he raped her. He also stole the complainant’s cell phone.
Ngo broke into the house of a fifth complainant on September 2, 2018.
The complainant was sleeping with her three-year-old daughter when she saw a balaclava-clad man in her house.
He raped the complainant and stole her cellphone.
National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Phaladi Shuping said the prosecution described Ngo as a serial rapist who would have continued with his crime spree if he was not arrested.
He said the sentences were ordered to run concurrently and Ngo was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
“Judge Daniso sentenced Ngo to an effective 50 years imprisonment after she ordered that the sentences for kidnapping and theft will run concurrently with the sentences for housebreaking with an intent to rape and rape,” said the spokesperson.
State Prosecutor Advocate Marius Strauss said: “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.
“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.”