By Rex Mphisa
How he is going to do it noone knows but 37 year Zimbabwean national Gift Madau expected to serve an additional 76 years after he has died, a sentence attracted by his numerous rape counts.
That sentence was pronounced by the Thohoyandou High Court sitting at sitting at Waterval, near Elim, Limpopo Province in South Africa.
The sentence was handed down on Thursday, September 4, 2025.
He was convicted of raping five women aged between 23 and 55 in the Thohoyandou area.
He committed these crimes occurred in 2021.
On April 6, 2021, Madau attacked four women collecting firewood, in Khubvi village, threatening them with a panga while wearing a balaclava.
He raped them at knifepoint, with one victim subjected to multiple assaults before he fled.
On May 17, 2021, he struck again, targeting two women in a similar manner in Vhufuki Village.
He raped one victim while forcing the other to watch, but abandoned his attempt to rape the second woman after she became severely traumatized.
The victims reported the incident, and community members traced and assaulted the suspect before police intervened and rescued him from mob justice.
While receiving treatment in hospital, one of the victims recognised him by his clothing.
Further investigations linked him to the earlier attacks through his modus operandi, and DNA evidence connected him directly to two of the victims.
According to a statement by the South African Police Service (SAPS) the High Court sentenced him as follows.
Four counts of rape – 10 years each, one count of rape (victim raped twice) – Life imprisonment, twelve counts of compelled sexual assault – 3 years each and these sentences will runs concurrently.