BREAKING NEWS: MASK MAN SENTENCED TO 12 LIFE SENTENCES AND 302 YEARS

Gift Mkhwanazi, the serial rapist known as “Mask Man” or the “Beast of Tembisa” has been sentenced to 12 life sentences and 302 years by the Johannesburg High Court. The life sentences will run concurrently.

Mkhwanazi was escorted by six police officers and had his legs chained when he arrived at the High Court on Tuesday morning, 07 September 2021.

The serial rapist was convicted of 18 counts of rape after he was linked to all the cases with the DNA tests.

He got away with the crimes for so many years by convincing those around him that he was an ordinary man.

The 33 year old Mkhwanazi is a father of 3 children from different mothers. He lived in a back room in Kaalfontein and told the court that he made a living as a plumber.

The convicted rapist was arrested on 1 November 2019 for crimes he committed between 2013 and 2019. The court heard how he terrorised women in the townships of Kaalfontein, Ebony Park and Ivory Park.

He is said to have worn a mask during his crime spree and rob his victims after raping them at gun or knife point.

It was the phone he robbed from his last victim that led police to his whereabout.