Investigating officer sergeant Molwantoa Rapakgadi, pictured, is gaining quite a reputation for nabbing serial rapists.
This week, Rapakgadi and state advocate Nangamso Goloda, were praised for the wonderful work they did in ensuring the conviction of the now deceased serial rapist, Johannes Jojo Shabangu.
Rapakgadi, who has been in the police service for 16 years works in the serial and electronic crime investigations unit – a specialised section within the family violence, child protection and sexual offences division in the Gauteng provincial office.
On Wednesday, Sunday World heard Rapakgadi speaking to victims of Shabangu’s reign of terror in the public gallery of the North-West High Court, which sat at Ga-Rankuwa magistrate’s court.
“Thank you for coming, I appreciate it very much. “Thank you for your bravery. I have had a challenge getting some victims to come to court so that justice can be served,” he told them after Judge Andre Peterson postponed the case to Thursday afternoon after Shabangu fell ill.
On Thursday, the gallery was empty except for Shabangu’s mother, girlfriend, younger brother, and another man who sat near the door on the left side of the gallery, where the women and their families sat on Wednesday.
Sunday World established later from one of the victims that Rapakgadi had called them to inform them that Shabangu had died.
Rapakgadi has worked on some of the most gruesome serial rapists’ cases in recent history.
Last year, his detective work led to the conviction of the last member of a serial rapists’ syndicate that wreaked havoc in Soshanguve, Mabopane and Ga-Rankuwa in Gauteng.
The last and youngest member of the syndicate, 24-year-old Sbongiseni Ngwenya, was sentenced to five life terms and 300 years in June last year.
At the beginning of the year, another serial rapist and robber, Johannes Nokeri, was sentenced to five life terms and 191 years for rape and other offences.
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