Serial Delft and Mfuleni rapist sentenced to life behind bars

A convicted serial rapist, 40-year-old Lungile Buhlungu, has been sentenced to six life terms in the Cape Town High Court on Wednesday.

This comes after he was linked to rape crimes that took place between 2014 and 2018 in Delft and Mfuleni. According to police, Buhlungu lured six women aged between 21 and 31 from taverns by offering them transport. He then robbed and raped them at gunpoint.

Buhlungu was first arrested during November 2020 on several non-related charges of rape, kidnapping and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.

“After his arrest, the investigation officer obtained his buccal swaps [DNA] which later positively linked him to the six rape cases he stood accused of in court.”

During court proceedings on Wednesday, Buhlungu was sentenced in the Cape Town High Court as follows:

Six life imprisonment on the six rape cases,
Four times 5 years on each count of kidnapping
Five years imprisonment for the possession of a firearm
Fifteen years imprisonment for robbery aggravated and
Five years imprisonment for assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm each on two counts. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.

All the sentences will run concurrently with the sentences of life imprisonment.

Western Cape Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Tembisile Patekile, welcomed the ruling and praised the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for their excellent investigative work.

Police say the ruling sends a strong message to violent offenders.

Lt Gen(Adv.) Patekile reiterated that these sentences are most certainly a victory for all the victims who have suffered such humiliating degradation at the mercy of a cruel man.

“Lengthy jail sentences such as this bring hope to all victims that justice prevails and that the cycle of violence against women and children can and must be broken,” added Patekile