In a landmark verdict that concluded the 16 Days of Activism against Women and Children Abuse, the local Magistrate’s Court has sentenced 38-year-old Mofihli Alloycyas Tshabalala to life imprisonment for a series of violent rapes and robberies targeting elderly women in the Maokeng area between 2012 and 2019.
Tshabalala, of Gelukwaarsts in Maokeng, Kroonstad, was found guilty on seven counts on 10 December 2025. The conviction was secured through DNA evidence linking him to all the crimes.
Free State Provincial Commissioner Lt. General Baile Motswenyane publicly commended the investigative work of Warrant Officer Derrick De Gouveia and the prosecution led by NPA prosecutor Ntabeseng Motshabi. Their collaboration ensured that Magistrate Sibongile Matambeka “closed the 16 Days of Activism on a high note by cutting serial rapist Mofihli’s tracks.”
A Timeline of Terror
The court heard harrowing details of four separate attacks on elderly women, all linked to Tshabalala:
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21 June 2012: A 70-year-old woman and her friend were walking home after chopping wood near Maokeng when a man approached them. After her friend managed to flee, the assailant threatened the victim with a knife, forced her to undress, and raped her.
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28 April 2016: A 60-year-old woman and her aunt were at the Gelukwaarsts cemetery when a man armed with a knife approached. He ordered the aunt to sit down, threatened to kill both women, and then raped the complainant.
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19 July 2017: A 78-year-old woman was returning from tending her cattle when a man pulled her to a tree in an open field. He produced a knife, threatened her life, and raped her.
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11 June 2019: A 65-year-old woman was cutting grass in an open field with her neighbour when a man approached. He threatened them with a knife, sent the neighbour away, and then raped the complainant.
In each incident, the attacker used a knife to intimidate and subdue his victims.
Sentence Handed Down
Magistrate Matambeka imposed the following sentences on Mofihli Alloycyas Tshabalala:
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Count 1 (Rape): 10 years imprisonment
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Count 2 (Rape): 10 years imprisonment
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Count 3 (Robbery): 15 years imprisonment
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Count 4 (Robbery): 15 years imprisonment
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Count 5 (Rape): 10 years imprisonment
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Count 6 (Rape): Life imprisonment
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Count 7 (Robbery): 15 years imprisonment