Zim man pleads guilty to murder, rape charges

Crime Reporter 

Zimbabwean serial killer, robber, kidnapper and rapist Wellington Kachidza (27) — the “Pretoria serial killer” — yesterday pleaded guilty in South Africa to eight counts of kidnapping, eight of extortion, eight of robbery, five of murder three of rape and one of contravening the Immigration Act.

All Gauteng High Court now has to do is sentence him and the date for that is being set today to allow a pre-sentencing report should Kachidza have anything to say on this matter.

According to media reports Kachidza picked his victims at random from filling stations, shopping complexes and train stations and killed them across Pretoria, including Eersterust, Denneboom, Soshanguve, Wonderboom, and Haakdooringboom.

In pleading guilty to the charges, he explained that he lured his males victims by informing them that he had bought a motor vehicle but did not have a driver’s licence, and simply wanted someone who could help him drive the car, and he promised to pay the person who undertook to help him. He lured women victims by saying he had found them a job nearby.

While walking to “his car” or “the job” he told the victims he knew of a short cut to get to the plot where the motor vehicle was, and then he would attack the men, usually by hitting them with a stone on the head, or threaten to attack the women.

Kachidza would then tie up his male victims using their shoelaces or continue threatening the women and order them to call their relatives and inform them they had been kidnapped and would only be released following a deposit into the victim’s account.

The families of the victims deposited varying amounts of R2 000, R1 500, or R1 200 into the accounts that Kachidza could extract with the victim’s card. 

With eight victims, including the three women, this accounted for the kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and extortion charges. 

But after picking up the deposit notifications he would then proceed to crush his victim’s heads with a rock and leave their bodies. Five died this way.

In cases where women were involved, he would rape them while waiting for the transactions to be  made by the relatives.