The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has on Thursday , 10 July 2020, sentenced an Ivory Park man to two life sentences for double rapes and additional 10 years for two counts of kidnappings. Cliff Tshepo Mathabathe, 32, was arrested in January 2019 in connection with a rape case which took place in Ivory Park’s Extension Three.
During further investigations into his possible other criminal activities, it was established through DNA that Mathabathe was responsible for another rape incident which he committed in Tembisa as far back as 2011. During his trial Mathabathe applied for bail which was denied owing to the fact that he was a danger to the community he is living in and that one of his victims would have seen him, thus traumatising her in the process.
The Acting Station Commander of the Ivory Park SAPS, Colonel Baba Mpotoane, has welcomed this hefty sentence. “Up until he was arrested, Mathabathe has shown that he was not about to stop his evil and wayward ways, and that the only avenue to stop him was this lengthy jail sentence,” said Colonel Mpotoane.
The acting station commander also congratulated the investigating officer, Detective Constable Edmond Lebopo, whose meticulous attention to detail unmasked Mathabathe for a monster he is, thus seeing to it that he ended behind bars for a long time.
