Cape Town –The man who raped and murdered 17-year-old Amahle Quku has been sentenced in the Western Cape High Court.
Leonard Mzingeli was sentenced to three life terms plus 15 years on two counts of rape, attempted murder, and murder.
The court ordered Mzingeli to life imprisonment for rape and 15 years imprisonment for the attempted murder of a victim after the incident on October 26, 2019.
The court heard Mzingeli accosted the woman near the Siyangena informal settlement in Browns Farm, Philippi.
The woman was stabbed over 20 times while he was raping her.
The court heard that the woman survived the incident after her friends took her to hospital where doctors had to assist with breathing and immediately decided to operate to save her life.
The doctor, who took the stand during the trial said the victim would have died within six hours following the attack. The doctor opened a case at Nyanga police station but it was alleged police never followed up on the matter.
The court heard she tried following up on her case at Nyanga SAPS but was unsuccessful.
The victim told the court eight months after her attack she recognised Mzingeli’s face after it was shared across social media platforms following the murder of Quku.
She went back to the police station and showed officers the man who raped and stabbed her.
Quku was raped and strangled on June 19, 2020, and her naked body was found in Albert Luthuli Street near Browns Farm in Philippi.
State prosecutor, advocate Renee Uys argued for a strong sentence to be imposed.
“Sadly, the conviction and sentencing of accused, who commit the offence of rape is not acting as a deterrent, and the statistics are not in society’s favour.
“The state submits that even so, there must be no compromise in imposing suitable sentencing, which can act as a protective measure for future possible victims.
“The long-term effect of the rape on the complainant, cannot be quantified with certainty. The difficulty the court faces is that the long-term impact of this offence cannot be determined now, or ever in respect of (the surviving victim), or the long-term effects in respect of the impact of Amahle QuKu’s death, on her family and friends,” Uys said.
Mzingeli was further sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder and life imprisonment for the rape of Quku.
The court declared him unfit to possess a firearm and it was ordered his name be entered into the National Register of Sex Offenders.
It was also ordered that the judgment be handed over to the provincial police commissioner so that this does not happen again.
Western Cape director of public prosecutions, advocate Nicolette Bell welcomed the sentence and said the fight against gender-based violence and femicide is going to be long and arduous but the rewards will be huge and benefit generations to come.
“It is a fight we need to pour all our resources in. It is a fight we cannot lose. It is for this reason that, we as the NPA have made it one of our top three priorities nationally.
“I am convinced that with all the resources at our disposal, the commitment and the skill we have as our prosecutors, we will make a difference in every case we come across, as long as there is enough evidence, that will guide us to a successful prosecution,” Bell said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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