Durban - The SAPS Provincial Commissioner in the Eastern Cape Major-General Nomthetheleli Lillian Mene has welcomed the hefty sentence handed to a child rapist, saying that he will no longer be a threat to innocent children.
The 41-year-old was sentenced to five life terms of imprisonment in the Gqeberha High Court on Wednesday.
Police said during the period of 2012 and 2018, Siyabulela Qunta prowled the streets of New Brighton and Kwazakele in the Eastern Cape, carefully picking out his victims and then luring them to secluded spots in the area where they were raped.
“All his victims were between the ages of five to seven-years-old,” said police spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu.
Qunta was finally arrested in April 2018 in Tsotsobe Street in Kwazakele after trying to kidnap a seven-year-old girl who was on her way to a nearby shop.
“When Qunta grabbed the girl, her siblings ran home to report the incident. The community arrested him while he was running with the child on his back. He was assaulted before been handed over to police,” she said.
Naidu said Qunta’s DNA linked him to five other cases of rape.
Qunta was charged with five counts of rape, six counts of kidnapping and three for assault.
“He remained in custody until the finalisation of the case,” Naidu said.
Qunta was found guilty on June 30 and in addition to five life terms, the judge ordered another 39 years for the kidnapping and assault cases.
Explaining the sentence, Naidu said the kidnapping and assault cases will run concurrent with the five life sentences.
“However, the life sentences will not run concurrently,” she said.
Mene said that justice had been served on the accused as he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
“The lives of these children have been so painfully affected through the contemptible actions of the accused. As SAPS management, we applaud and commend the team involved for their unrelenting spirit in making sure that the accused’s reign of terror on the vulnerable came to an end,” Mene said.
IOL