He’s behind bars with an amputated leg awaiting the start of his trial next week, but alleged serial rapist Nkosinathi Phakathi still puts the fear of God into the children, women, and men in the communities he allegedly terrorized for nine years until his arrest in March last year.
With only a week left before the start of his highly anticipated trial at the Joburg High Court, which is sitting in the Benoni Magistrate’s Court, tremors from his alleged reign of terror still reverberate in areas such as Etwatwa, Daveyton, Putfontein, Wattville and Crystal Park in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, where he racked up 203 charges, including 94 counts of rape.
Most of the victims were schoolgirls, some as young as 12.
Some of his victims were forced to watch the rapes, including three-year-olds, a nine-year-old boy, and teenagers, who were in the same room or forced to lie next to their sisters, aunts, mothers, and friends. Others were compelled to rape their peers.
The 38-year-old Phakathi allegedly attacked girls on their way to school, in their homes after posing as handyman, electrician, or municipal official; and along the railway line or in the veld they cut through to get to or from school.
On September 28, Phakathi allegedly held four teenagers at gunpoint. He allegedly forced the boys to rape the girls, then proceed to ask them to swap. He then allegedly raped the girls while the boys watched.
According to documents seen by Sunday World, in a number of instances, Phakathi allegedly raped mothers in the presence of their children, aunts in the presence of nieces or nephews, and sisters in the presence of other sisters, brothers, or cousins.
On June 30, 2014, he allegedly raped a 15-year-old in front of her nine-year-old brother. According to police records, he attacked the children in their home, posing as an electrician. He is alleged to have asked the sister to tie her brother up and then he tied and raped her.
He grew bolder with each month that he allegedly raped, kidnapped, assaulted, and robbed his victims. In 2017, he is alleged to have committed at least 16 rapes. Last year, a month before he was arrested in Etwatwa after one of his victims spotted him, he had already allegedly committed nine rapes by February.
For his victims, homes are not even safe spaces anymore, let alone walking in the street. “I’m afraid,” said one woman who was 15 when she and her friend were allegedly raped by Phakathi in 2015. “I’m scared, even when I’m at home. There are things that will always be a reminder of that day… like the railway line.”
According to the now 20-year-old, she was walking with her friend along the railway track in Etwatwa in October when a man approached them, threatening that he had a gun and a knife. He allegedly took them to a field and raped them.
“I don’t know what will happen in court. I have never been in a court in my life,” she said with a quiver in her voice as if she is the one who will be on trial.
“I’m scared. I’m broken; my life has changed,” she added.
According to police reports, Phakathi has been allegedly linked to the rape through DNA analysis and modus operandi.
A father who has daughters and whose young neighbor was allegedly raped by Phakathi says his family counts themselves lucky that one of their children was not a victim of his alleged gruesome crimes.
“This is so close to home. I see and deal with the devastation that this man has [allegedly] caused each day,” he said.
“It is heartbreaking that his [alleged] victims will relive the trauma again when the trial starts. We find comfort that he is in jail and will never hurt another child or woman again.”
According to a source in the police, all his alleged victims have been traced and notified to appear for the trial.
“The day I have been dreading has come,” said another victim as she counted down the days before she comes face-to-face with the man who allegedly raped her.
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