At least 23 killed, dozens wounded in Sudan market airstrikes

At least 23 persons have been killed, and 40 others were injured after air strikes by the Sudanese army hit Khartoum.

Traders, shoppers, and others were among the victims of the airstrikes.

According to a Nobel Prize-nominated rescue network Emergency Response Rooms spokesman, the wounded are being treated in the hospital.

Emergency responders report that hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of injured.

The airstrikes, which occurred at the weekend, targeted the main camp occupied by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in southern Khartoum.

It also hits the central market and a nearby residential area.

The RSF RSF have been battling the military in an 18-month civil war that has claimed up to 150,000 lives and displaced a fifth of Sudan’s population, according to UN estimates.

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Fierce fighting has escalated around Khartoum, which has been largely controlled by the RSF since Friday.

The military has also intensified airstrikes in the city’s centre and southern belt.

Several witnesses say the army is advancing towards Khartoum from nearby Omdurman, where clashes erupted on Saturday.

The Sudanese government presented the UN Security Council with what it called new evidence that the United Arab Emirates is arming and supporting the RSF and called for action against the Gulf state.

Although UAE has long denied that it is backing the RSF, the former and the Sudanese Armed Forces have been accused of committing atrocities.

“Relentless hostilities across the country have brought misery to millions of civilians, triggering the world’s fastest-growing displacement crisis,” the UN warned last month.

At least 23 killed, dozens wounded in Sudan market airstrikes

Serial rapist bags 791-year imprisonment in South Africa

The Pretoria High Court in South Africa has sentenced a serial rapist, Nkosinathi Emmanuel Phakathi (40) to 791 years and six-month imprisonment.

The National Prosecuting Authority in the statement on Friday, October 4, 2024, said the court ordered that he be declared unfit to possess a firearm, and his name be added on the National Register for Sexual Offenders and the National Child Protection Register.

This is after he was found guilty of 90 counts of rape, four counts of compelled rape, three counts of compelling or causing a child to witness a sexual act, 43 counts of kidnapping, two counts of assault as well as four counts of theft on November 08, 2022.

Phakathi committed these offences in and around Ekurhuleni, from June 2012 until March 2021 when he was arrested.

The majority of his victims were schoolchildren, the youngest being nine years old, while the oldest was a 44-year-old female.

Initially, Phakathi was facing 203 charges, however the state withdrew 55 minor charges. In court, he pleaded guilty to 148 charges and his guilty plea statement was read in court.

He targeted his victims while they were going or coming back from school or work in the morning or evening.

He also targeted some in their own homes.

He would pretend to be an electrician coming to fix a geyser or other household appliances and rape them. He raped some of his victims in the presence of children, in some instances raping more than one person at a time.

He made the others watch while raping the other, thereafter he would run or leave the house.

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Phakathi was arrested and linked to some of the offences through DNA evidence, and a modus operandi linkage report.

A total of 96 dockets were investigated by warrant officer Tlala John Mokoena of the South African Police Service.

During sentencing proceedings through his legal representative, he asked the court to be lenient when imposing the sentence and consider the three years and six months he spent in custody while awaiting finalisation of the case.

He also asked the court to consider the fact that he is not the same person he was when he committed the offences, since he has now lost one of his legs when he was shot during his arrest. Therefore, he is no longer physically able to commit those offences.

However, the prosecutor, Advocate Salome Scheepers, argued that Phakathi committed serious offences, and that rape is a very serious offence as it causes humiliation, degrading and brutal invasion of the privacy and dignity of the victim.

Not only did he rape his victims, he also forced young boys to rape their female friends and terrorised some of his victims at the comfort of their homes.

Furthermore, Phakathi showed no remorse for the offences, buy only pleaded guilty because the state had overwhelming evidence against him.

Scheepers also read in the Victim Impact statements, where some of the victims wrote about how the offences affected them.

One of the victims, who was a virgin at the time of the incident, said Phakathi stole her innocence as she cannot participate in the virginity testing ceremony.

The Acting Judge, Lesego Makolomakwe, agreed with the state that Phakathi showed no remorse and was beyond rehabilitation.

Furthermore, the judge said the courts had a responsibility to protect communities against perpetrators such as Phakathi.

Therefore, she found that there were no compelling and substantial circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.

“The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomed the sentence, hoping that the sentence will send a strong message that the NPA takes matters of sexual offences seriously,” NPA stated.

“We also thank the dedication and commitment by the Investigating Officer, warrant officer Mokoena which led to the conviction and sentence.”

Serial rapist bags 791-year imprisonment in South Africa

Woman jailed 26 years for killing uncle over insurance payout

A South African woman who hired her neighbour to k!ll her uncle so that she could benefit from an insurance policy has been sentenced to an effective 26 years behind bars.

Nompelo Maloyi, 37, and her neighbour and hitman Yithulwazi “Lwazi” Kay, 35, were sentenced in the High Court of South Eastern Cape Division.

Kay also received a 26 year jail term.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the duo were convicted for the murder of 66-year-old Mynhardt Maloyi.

The victim was found inside his house in Henry Street in Graaff-Reinet with multiple stab wounds to his upper body in November 2022.

Nompelo, who was Maloyi’s niece, was the beneficiary of several insurance policies, which she had taken out on him.

The total insurance was worth R165,000.

“Evidence presented in court revealed that she orchestrated the murder by soliciting the assistance of her neighbour, Kay, promising him a fee of R20,000 for his involvement,” said NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali.

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Maloyi was killed at his Umasizakhe township home in Graaff-Reinet on November 25, 2022.

On the night of the murder, Nompelo left her child with another neighbour, and together with Kay, armed with a knife, went to the Mynhardt’s home.

“Acting as his primary caregiver, Nompelo ensured access to the house.

“Once inside, the two accosted Mynhardt, bound his hands and feet with shoelaces, struck him on the head with a blunt object, and stabbed him multiple times in the neck.

He succumbed to his injuries and died at the scene.”

The NPA said his body was discovered the following morning after Nompelo feigned concern and asked a neighbour to check on her uncle under the guise of delivering groceries.

“After the murder, Nompelo submitted claims against the insurance policies for financial gain.

However, her involvement in the crime soon came to light when Kay, dissatisfied with the incomplete payment of his promised fee, began threatening her.

“In a desperate move, Nompelo sought assistance from others to either eliminate Kay or lend her the balance of the promised fee.”

The NPA said that the State argued for a life sentence, but the court determined that substantial and compelling circumstances justified a lesser sentence.

“The prosecution intends to appeal what they deem an inappropriately lenient sentence.”

Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Barry Madolo commended the teams for a successful prosecution.

“The conviction reflects our serious stance on premeditated murders perpetrated for selfish insurance gains, a troubling trend we see across the country.

Woman jailed 26 years for killing uncle over insurance payout