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Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
A convicted three-times rapist, three-times robber and burglar from Beitbridge district will spend the next 57 years behind bars, lucky to have 17 years of his combined 74 years of sentences suspended on condition he behaves himself for five years when he eventually comes out.
Boniface Moyo (28) from Gukunze area under Chief Stauze in Beitbridge started his crime spree shortly after being released from prison last year, after serving 30 months for a burglary in 2020, but not learning from the experience. Moyo targeted homesteads when men had gone away. Hauled before Beitbridge regional magistrate Mr Innocent Bepura yesterday, Moyo pleaded guilty to all seven new offences.
The three armed robbery charges were taken as one for sentencing and he had five years of the 20 years conditionally suspended.
The rapes, as crimes against the person, were more serious and Mr Bepura handed down a combined 45 years. Fifteen years were suspended, leaving 30. The unlawful entry attracted 12 years, with two years suspended. This high sentence for this offence follows from the fact that he was a repeat offender.
Appearing for the State, Mr Claudius Karinga and Miss Tsitsi Mutukwa, said Moyo unleashed his wave of violent crime between December last year and March this year.
He had been in South Africa and was deported for violating immigration laws, resulting in his arrest on arrival.
The court heard that Moyo attacked three complainants and robbed them of cash worth over R20 000 and an assortment of valuables.
During the course of his crime spree, he raped three women after threatening to kill them. He also stole cellphones worth thousands of dollars from one homestead in Mugaladivha.
Moyo mainly targeted homesteads in the Zezani, Malusungane, Fula, Mugaladivha and Tshapfutshe areas. After committing the offences, he would hide and stay in the bushes or skip the border into South Africa.
His reign of crime came to an end after he was arrested in South Africa for illegal migration and deported.
Moyo was arrested on Monday after the deportation during a routine screening process by security agents at the Government’s reception and support centre.
Online Reporter