Judge John Horn has thrown the book at Lucky Simelane and denied him leave to appeal the sentence or the conviction.
He Will spend a long, long time behind bars.
“The attacks on complainants were severe, relentless, cruel and brutal,” said Judge Horn, in the South Gauteng High Court sitting in Palm Ridge.
Simelane (33) has been convicted to five life terms and 245 years in jail.
One of the survivors said she is happy that justice has been served.
“It took forever for the case to be finished but at least he got what he deserved.”
Speaking after sentencing yesterday, she told Daily Sun her life changed completely after she was raped.
She was with her two sisters after buying kotas at a spaza shop at about 8pm when Simelane told them he was hungry.
“He asked us to share our kotas with him. But before we knew it, he pulled a gun and said it wasn’t our kotas that he wanted.”
The woman said Simelane threatened to shoot them if they screamed.
“He raped us repeatedly and kept us in the veld until 2am the next morning.
“When he was tired he would sit down and eat the kotas while pointing a gun at us.”
Horn said Simelane caused his victims untold emotional trauma.
“You kidnapped your female victims and brutally raped them. You accosted women at night in the streets when they were going about their business.
“You showed them no mercy.”
He said the women were left traumatised by the attacks and endured emotional distress which will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
“Rape is one of the worst things that can be inflicted on a woman. Not only is it degrading and demeaning for the victim, but rape also infringes on her privacy and self-esteem,” said the judge.
Two of the 12 women were 14 and 15 years old and still virgins when they were raped.
Horn said the evidence concerning the teenagers made for sorry reading.
Simelane terrorised the community over a period of four years.
He was convicted last week on 12 counts of rape, 15 of kidnapping and several counts of armed robbery.
His application for leave to appeal both the conviction and sentence was dismissed.
The judge said he didn’t believe another court would come to a different conclusion.
Throughout the sentencing, Simelane kept his eyes on a hymn book, from time to time scratching out words he found in it.
