VUYO MKIZE
T WO SOWETO men allegedly broke into seven women’s homes, stole their belongings and brutally raped each of them at gunpoint.
In some instances, they assaulted the men present at the homes and forced them to watch as they took turns raping the women.
Jacinto “Kwaito” Chilenge, 26, and Felix Machava, 33, face 37 charges, including rape, compelling a person 18 years or older to witness a sexual act, housebreaking with the intention to rob, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. All charges relate to incidents that happened between April 2009 and April 2010.
Machava faces an additional charge of escape from lawful custody after he fled from police custody in April last year.
Testifying at the Johannesburg High Court yesterday, two of their alleged victims spoke of how, in the early morning of November 17, 2009, two men wearing balaclavas broke into their home in Bramfischerville.
“It was 2am and I was getting ready to go to work. I felt something behind me, and when I turned to look, I saw a man pointing a gun at me. All I could see were his eyes, nose and mouth,” the first witness, Dikeledi*, said.
She said the other man was keeping watch by the door while the man pointing a firearm at her took her Nokia 3500 phone, her roommate Bontle’s* Nokia 1100 phone, three purses, R200 in cash and a pair of sneakers.
“I woke my roommate up and we both started screaming. They shouted at us to stop, but we carried on screaming until the man who had taken my phone fired a shot towards us. We kept quiet after that,” she added.
After the men ransacked the shack, they threatened to leave with Dikeledi.
“We started begging them not to leave with me, and my roommate said we’d do everything they wanted. The one carrying a gun told her to pull a blanket over her head, took off another blanket from the bed, laid it on the floor and told me to lie on my back. I did.
“He unzipped his trousers and told me to close my eyes so I could not see him. He started raping me until he ejaculated. He didn’t use a condom.”
The trial continues.
* Not their real names.