After thorough detection work, a family violence, child protection and sexual offence unit detective’s investigation of three cases of rape has put self-proclaimed prophet-cum-traditional healer Mthokozisi Cyril Mdlalose behind bars for a long time.
Mdlalose, 37, received five life terms imprisonment and an additional 30 years in the Nquthu Regional Court on Wednesday, August 21.
KwaZulu-Natal Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has praised the investigator for his hard work, and the court for a harsh sentence..
Mdlalose began his raping while masquerading as a prophet. He gave an 18-year-old girl a false prophecy that she was bewitched and she would die.
He then instructed her to come to his eMadresini home (Traditional hut) so he could remove the curse.
The victim told her mother, who believed the prophet and gave her daughter permission to visit him at his home.
There the prophet told the 18-year-old to lie down on her back and he applied ointment to her body, before he raped the girl.
The prophet told the girl not to tell anyone and after eleven days, he raped the victim again, this took place in October 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mdlalose used the same prophecy shtick to lure a 15-year-old girl to his house in February 2022. He instructed her to undress herself before raping her several times.
In August 2022, Mdlalose pretended to be a traditional healer to an unsuspecting mother who took her 18-year-old daughter to him for cleansing.
Mdlalose took the girl to a river to bathe. After bathing Mdlalose laid a towel on the ground and ordered the girl to sit down as he applied muti (traditional herbs) on her head and ears, she was unconscious, when she woke up Mdlalose had already gone and she realised that she had been raped.
The provincial commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has praised the investigative work by the officer and applauded the Nquthu Regional Court for the harsh sentencing of the rapist.
Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said “The sentencing comes within a month in which the country is honouring and paying attention to all the efforts and sacrifices made by women in our society.
“Sentences such as this encourage our investigators to put more effort and leave no stone unturned, knowing that the court will remove those who abuse women from society for good,” Mkhwanazi said.
He also said, ”Mdlalose was also declared unfit to possess a firearm and his name will be engraved on the National Register for Sex Offenders.”
IOL