Pretoria - The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has welcomed the sentencing of 28-year-old Wellington Kachidza to six life terms and 192 years imprisonment by the High Court in Pretoria after he was convicted on 34 counts.
North Gauteng regional spokesperson for the director of public prosecutions Lumka Mahanjana said the Zimbabwean national was convicted after he pleaded guilty to six counts of murder, three counts of rape, eight counts of kidnapping, eight counts of extortion, eight counts of robbery with aggravation circumstances and being in South Africa illegally.
“All these crimes Kachidza is convicted of took place in and around Pretoria between January 2018 to December 2019. He used the same method to lure male victims, pretending to ask for their assistance with driving. He would kidnap them and demand ransom money from their families,” said Mahanjana.
After getting paid the ransom money, Kachidza would kill his hostages.
The reported cause of death, based on post-mortem reports for the victims, was head injuries or trauma to the head.
“With three female victims, he pretended to be offering employment opportunities. He would lure them to a close-by bush or veld, rape them and rob them of their belongings and walk away,” said Mahanjana.
Kachidza was arrested on January 15, 2020, based on an intelligence-driven operation and was later linked by DNA evidence to the rape counts. He has been in custody since his arrest.
Prosecutor Advocate Pieter Coetzer argued, in court, that Kachidza was motivated by greed to commit the gruesome offences.
“It was also argued on behalf of the State that Kachidza had brutally slaughtered his victims and that his actions had a severe impact on the lives of the rape victims as well as the family members of the deceased,” said Mahanjana.
Meanwhile, North Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions Sibongile Mzinyathi is confident that through this sentence, the community can be reminded that the NPA is committed to ensuring that people who commit such gruesome crimes are prosecuted.
Mzinyathi also saluted the investigating team of the South African Police Service (SAPS) that probed the matter.
IOL