A convicted rapist, already serving a life sentence, has been handed a further two life sentences for rape.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said Sinovuyo Majiyane Funde, 26, had been linked through DNA analysis to the 2016 gang rape of a woman.
Subsequently the Makhanda high court convicted Funde last week on one count of rape, one of attempted compelled rape and one count of robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Naidu said that at 12.30am on March 4 2016, the 20-year-old victim and her boyfriend had been walking in Runeli Drive, Nemato, in Port Alfred, when they noticed a group of men sitting outside a shop.
After they passed the shop, the men followed them and blocked them off.
The pair were threatened with a knife and robbed of their cellphones before the woman was raped.
After the ordeal, her boyfriend was forced to have sex with her before the suspects left with couple’s their phones.
“Information emerged that at the time of [Funde’s] arrest, he was already serving a life sentence plus 20 years’ imprisonment on another unrelated incident in Nemato in November 2016 where two females, one a minor, were raped.
“In this case, Funde and his co-accused Nkosikana Sandi, 25, were sentenced in the Makhanda high court in May 2023,” Naidu said.
The other suspects in the March 2016 incident had never been arrested, Naidu said.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nomthetheleli Mene commended the investigating officer in both cases, detective warrant officer Peterson Luzuko Kanzi of the Port Alfred family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit for his dedication and unwavering commitment to ensuring that justice was meted out.
“This achievement stands as a testament to the remarkable skills and experience as an investigating officer and his relentless pursuit of justice for the victims.
“Such sentences bring a beacon of hope and security to victims of gender-based violence and send a clear message that such reprehensible acts will not go unpunished,” Mene said.
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