A ZIMBABWEAN has been sentenced by the Pretoria High Court to three life terms and an additional 226 years for several charges that include murder and rape.
Other charges include aggravated robbery, unlawful possession of firearms, housebreaking, kidnapping, unlawful entry, possession of ammunition, escaping lawful custody and being in South Africa illegally.
Leonard Lemmy Chauke (34) from Olievenhoutbosch, Centurion in Gauteng, was given three life terms for two counts of rape and murder, 80 years direct imprisonment for four counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances and 90 years direct imprisonment for six counts of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Chauke was also sentenced to 15 years direct imprisonment for five counts of housebreaking, 15 years direct imprisonment for three counts of kidnapping and 10 years direct imprisonment for rape.
He will serve another 12 years direct imprisonment for four counts of unlawful possession of ammunition, two years direct imprisonment for escaping from custody and two years direct imprisonment for being illegal in the country.
He pleaded guilty to all the charges.
He was meant to serve a 15-year sentence at Kgosi Maphuru Correctional Services for housebreaking and robbery with aggravating circumstances but escaped in December 2020 after serving only two months.
After the escape, Chauke and his accomplices committed crimes in and around Olievenhoutbosch and Wierda Park using the same modus operandi of breaking into their victims’ houses to rob and taking females to a nearby bush where they would gang rape the victims.
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“The youngest of the victims was a 17-year-old girl. On June 7,2022, Chauke and his accomplice shot and killed a 35-year-old man at a squatter camp in Olievenhoutbosch. Chauke was arrested two days later after a witness to the murder pointed him out to the police and has been in custody since,” a statement by Lumka Mahanjana, the National Prosecutions Authority regional spokesperson of Gauteng Division read.
Chauke pleaded guilty to the charges against him and told the court that he committed the offences while under the influence of drugs.
His plea through his legal representative to be spared from the prescribed minimum sentences because he has been in custody since his arrest was thrown out after State prosecutor Mokautu Masilo argued that Chauke did not show any remorse but instead hid behind drugs.
“Furthermore, the crimes committed were heinous and were done in a meticulous way where Chauke and his accomplice would scout and attack vulnerable people and threaten them with a weapon. Moreover, Masilo handed in seven victim impact statements facilitated by the court preparation officer, Lebogang Lebese, where the victims expressed how the incidents have emotionally affected them. Therefore, I ask the court to impose the prescribed minimum sentence,” Mahanjana said.
Judge Portia Phahlane agreed with the State that Chauke did not show any remorse that he was being convicted of grave offences that are prevalent in that country, and that the court must protect the law-abiding citizens from such criminals.
“Moreover, judge Phahlane said everyone has a right to life, which should not be taken away from them and that communities are terrorised by people like Chauke. Therefore, a clear message should be sent that such behaviour is unacceptable. Therefore, the sentence given was appropriate.”
