Mthokozisi Cyril Mdlalose, a self-proclaimed prophet and traditional healer, has been imprisoned for a long time following a comprehensive investigation by a detective from the family violence, child protection, and sexual offense section into three cases of r*pe.
Mdlalose, 37, was sentenced to five life terms in jail and an additional 30 years in the Nquthu Regional Court on Wednesday, August 21.
KwaZulu-Natal Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi complimented the investigator’s efforts and the court’s stern penalty.
Mdlalose began r*ping while posing as a prophet. He delivered an 18-year-old girl a bogus prophecy that she had been bewitched and would die.
He then told her to come to his eMadresini house (traditional hut) so that he might break the curse.
The victim informed her mother, who trusted the prophet and permitted her daughter to visit him at his home.
The prophet instructed the 18-year-old to lie on her back, apply ointment to her body, and then r*ped her.
The prophet urged the girl not to tell anyone, and then r*ped her again eleven days later, in October 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mdlalose used the same prophetic ploy to get a 15-year-old girl to his home in February 2022. He told her to undress herself before r*ping her many times.
In August 2022, Mdlalose pretended to be a traditional healer to an unwitting mother who brought her 18-year-old daughter to him for cleaning.
Mdlalose brought the girl to a river to bathe. After showering, Mdlalose spread a towel on the ground and told the girl to sit down while he applied muti (traditional herbs) to her head and ears. When she awoke, Mdlalose had already left, and she realized she had been r*ped.
Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the provincial commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal, hailed the officer’s investigative efforts and applauded the Nquthu Regional Court’s stern sentencing of the r*pist.
Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi stated, “The sentencing comes within a month of the country honouring and paying attention to all of 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,” Mr. Mkhwanazi added.
He continued: “Mdlalose was also declared unfit to possess a firearm and his name will be engraved on the National Register for Sex Offenders.”
