Siphelele Nketo
THE Mthatha Regional Court has sentenced serial rapist Sibulele Fempulana (31) to three life imprisonment terms for three counts of rape.
The court ordered one life sentence to be served consecutively with two life imprisonment terms, which means he must serve two life imprisonment terms before being considered for parole, said Luxolo Tyali, NPA regional spokesperson, Eastern Cape Division.
Fempulana’s victims included a child (11), a teenager (17) and a young woman (24). In 2019, Fempulana raped the first victim (24) in Ngqeleni. He was later arrested, and after numerous court appearances his case was withdrawn.
In 2022, he relocated to Libode and raped a child (11) who was on her way to a shop. After raping the child he ran away.
A police investigation into the incident linked Fempulana to the case, but he was nowhere to be found.
While being searched by the police, another incident of raping a teenage girl was reported against him in Mqanduli.
After his arrest, his first case of rape, withdrawn in 2019, was re-enrolled by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. All his charges were centralised.
Despite pleading not guilty to all the charges, the state submitted evidence of medical reports of the victims.
However, the accused maintained that there was consent that was granted by the victims. After submission of the Victim Impact Statements, also prepared by the CPO, the court found no substantial and compelling circumstances for it to depart from the prescribed minimum sentence.
Welcoming the sentence was acting Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Samkelo Mtwana who commended the prosecution and investigation teams for their work in securing justice. He also commended the victims for their courage in reporting the crime and testifying in court, which contributed to securing this conviction and sentence.
“The NPA remains resolute in its commitment to vigorously prosecute gender-based violence and ensure that survivors are protected and supported through the criminal justice process,” concluded Tyali.
