A self-proclaimed prophet-cum-traditional healer has been sentenced to two life terms in jail after he was found guilty of two counts of rape.
Sipho Khumalo was sentenced by the Kokstad regional court in KwaZulu-Natal recently after he had fled to Gauteng.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said Khumalo committed other crimes in Gauteng and later fled to Kwakhiliva in the south coast, where he hid for few days before the police pounced on him.
Police said in 2017, the 29-year-old self-proclaimed prophet lured two girls aged 15 and 16 to his house in Bongweni, Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal.
This after he prophesied that someone was bewitching the girls, instructing one of them to drink a concoction while the other girl was taken to the river by Khumalo’s assistant for a supposed cleansing.
Netshiunda said Khumalo proceeded to rape the girl.
“When the assistant came back from the river, he was again sent back to cleanse the girl that had been raped, opening space for the prophet to continue his raping spree on the other girl,” said Netshiunda.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.