The Johannesburg High Court has sentenced the man who terrorised women in Cosmo City between February 2018 and January 2020 to life imprisonment. Thabang Mahlangu who was linked to the crimes by DNA collected from five women who had reported cases to the police, was sentenced on Friday.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindile Mjonondwane said Mahlangu was charged and convicted of eight counts, ranging from rape, robbery with aggravating circumstances to housebreaking with intent to rape. Mjonondwane said he broke into people's houses in the early hours of the morning, wielded a knife, raped the women and robbed them of their belongings. She added that Mahlangu was attacking women in their sleep and threatening them with a knife was further aggravating, planned and callous, adding that Mahlangu took advantage of women at their most vulnerable when they are alone at home and sleeping. "The fifth woman was raped on her way home from a nearby tavern," she said.

State Advocate, Rotondwa Phungo submitted that rape without the use of a condom was an aggravating factor in a country ravaged by HIV, increasing the risk of women either contracting HIV or falling pregnant (or both). He added that it leaves the women with the unbearable decision to terminate the pregnancy or to live with the consequences of something they did not consent. "The NPA stands firm in its commitment to ensuring thar perpetrates of such reprehensible acts are brought to justice and held accountable for their actions to the fullest extent of the law," Mjonondwane added.