Everson Luhanga
Coming face to face in the cell with the man who had come to be known as the Beast of Tembisa, he seemed relaxed. He had accepted his fate as a man who will spend a very long time behind bars.
“I am ready to start my sentence. There is nothing that will change the court’s findings against me,” he said as he sat in a cell, both his legs chained at the ankles, smiling and looking unconcerned.
“Whether I get sad or angry or anything else, nothing will change.”
It is the final chapter in the saga of Gift Mkhwanazi, one of the most brutal criminals in the annals of South African crime. The serial rapist who terrorised women in Tembisa has begun serving his time.
On Tuesday, the Johannesburg High Court sentenced Mkhwanazi to 12 life sentences, and an additional 302 years, for crimes he committed between 2013 and 2019. He was arrested on 11 December 2019.
After the sentencing, Scrolla.Africa spoke to Mkhwanazi in his cells before he was moved to prison to begin serving his sentence.
Speaking about the people he will miss, he said he will miss his three children that he had with three different women.
Before he disappeared into his cells, Mkhwanazi shared a few jokes with the police officers who were present. He asked for the money he had on the day of his arrest as well as his cell phone.
He also asked one of the officers if they could buy him some snuff before he leaves Johannesburg prison.
Pulling down his mask, Mkhwanazi’s laughter echoed along the high walls of Johannesburg High Court before he was taken back to the cells.
In many of his appearances during the trial, Mkhwanazi didn’t show any remorse towards his victims, many of whom had attended the proceedings.
Once the judge handed down his sentence, one of the mothers of the victims sobbed.
She told Scrolla.Africa that at least justice has been served and a very dangerous man has been removed from society.
“Our children will live the trauma of being raped by a man who never apologised even after he was asked to do so by the court,” she said.
