A man collapsed and died in the Garankuwa Regional Court holding cells immediately after his conviction on 14 counts of rape and 11 counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Johannes Shabangu apparently became ill and fainted in the holding cells.
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According to Henry Mamothame, the spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in North West, Shabangu fell while the court was in recess.
“This was subsequent to Judge Andre Peterson receiving his guilty plea statement and subsequently finding him guilty in all charges, in accordance with the guilty plea.
“Shabangu was declared dead by the paramedics and a declaration certificate was presented to the court and the judge declared this matter as finalised,” Mamothamane said.
The cause of his death is unknown.
Shabangu’s court appearance was in connection with incidents that took place in Winterveldt between July 2012 and December 2019. He and his accomplices allegedly raped and robbed multiple women.
Mamothame said:
The evidence contained in the indictment indicates that in some instances, Shabangu together with his accomplices, would confront couples coming from places of leisure in the evenings, threaten them with a firearm, beat up the boyfriends, rob them of their belongings and subsequently take turns to rape the female victims.
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In some cases, they broke into homes and then used the same modus operandi. “The youngest of their victims was 14 years of age and her ordeal took place in June 2015. In his guilty plea statement, which was read by his attorney, he took responsibility for all the charges he was facing and asked for forgiveness from his victims,” Mamothame said.
Shabangu’s accomplices are still at large.
