VUYO MKIZE
AROUND 3am on November 18, 2009, Lerato (not her real name) – then two months pregnant – was robbed and raped by two Soweto men while her boyfriend was blindfolded.
The woman told the Johannesburg High Court yesterday that she and her boyfriend were asleep when two thugs kicked open the door of their shack in Bramfischerville, barged in and pointed two guns at them. They demanded money and cellphones.
Their faces were covered in black balaclavas, and only their eyes, mouths and noses were visible.
Jacinto Chilenge, 26, and Felix Machava, 33, are facing 37 charges, including seven counts of rape, compelling a person to witness a sexual act, housebreaking with intent to rob, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
Lerato said that after the men had stolen some of their belongings, they ordered her to get off the bed, stand on the bed’s side and bend over. She was naked. One of the robbers unbuttoned his trousers.
“I asked him to use a condom. He asked why I was asking him to do that and I said it was because I was HIV-positive. He ordered me to give him a condom, and I did. He put it on and carried on raping me until he was finished,” she told the Johannesburg High Court yesterday, her soft voice trembling.
“The second one came and told me to lay a blanket on the floor. I did so. He ordered me to lie on it and face upwards. I did that. He got on top of me, I gave him a condom and he put it on, then (took it) off again and raped me.”
When the men were done, they ordered her to get back onto the bed and cover herself with a blanket.
“I did not consent to sex with those men,” she said.
After they left, Lerato and her boyfriend went to the police station to open a case.
“My heart was sore, it was broken. I cried a lot.”
Also testifying yesterday was Mpho (not her real name), who was gang raped on December 1, 2009, also in her shack in Bramfischerville.
She too was with her boyfriend when four armed men, wearing balaclavas, broke into her shack. They demanded money and Mpho’s belongings. Then they ordered her to get off her bed and face the wall.
Each of the four raped her. “I did not consent to having sex with said.” All four men did not use condoms while raping her.
After the thugs left her shack, she and her boyfriend went to the Dobsonville police station to lay a charge.
The trial continues.