The Nquthu regional court on Wednesday handed down the sentence to 37-year-old Mthokozisi Cyril Mdlalose, a self-proclaimed prophet-cum-traditional healer, for his sex crimes between October 2020 and August 2022.
KwaZulu-National police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said the investigating officer positively linked Mdlalose to the rape of the three young women.
In October 2020 Mdlalose masqueraded as a prophet and gave an 18-year-old girl a false prophecy that she was bewitched and that her days on earth were numbered.
“He then instructed the victim to go with him to his eMadresini home so that he could reverse the curse. The victim told her mother, who believed the ‘prophet’ and allowed her to go,” he said.
“The fake prophet told the girl to lie on her back and applied ointment to her body before raping her. After the ordeal, he instructed the victim not to tell anyone, and 11 days later raped her again.”
Netshiunda said he used the prophecy modus operandi to lure another victim, a 15-year-old girl, to his house where he instructed her to undress before raping her several times in February 2022.
“In August, Mdlalose pretended to be a traditional healer and an unsuspecting mother took her 18-year-old daughter to him for cleansing. Mdlalose took the victim to a river where he instructed her to bath.
“By the time she finished bathing he had put a towel on the floor where he ordered her to sit, and he applied his muti on her head and ears.”
The girl lost consciousness and when she awoke, Mdlalose was nowhere to be found and she realised she had been raped.
KZN provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi praised quality investigative work by the investigating officer and applauded the court for handing down the ultimate sentence to the rapist.
“The sentence comes in a month in which the country is honouring and paying attention to all the efforts and sacrifices made by women in our society. Sentences such as this encourage our investigators to put in more effort and leave no stone unturned, knowing that the court will remove those who abuse women from society for good,” Mkhwanazi said.
Mdlalose was declared unfit to possess a firearm, and his name will be placed on the National Register for Sex Offenders.
Source: SowetanLIVE
