Moses Sithole Explained

Moses Sithole
Alias:The ABC Killer
The South African Strangler
The Gauteng Killer
Birth Date:1964 11, df=yes
Birth Place:Vosloorus, Gauteng, South Africa
Sentence:2,410 years' imprisonment
Conviction:Murder
Rape
Robbery
Victims:38–76
Beginyear:1994
Endyear:1995
Country:South Africa
States:Atteridgeville, Gauteng, Johannesburg
Apprehended:6 November 1995
Imprisoned:Mangaung Correctional Centre

Moses Sithole (born 17 November 1964) is a South African serial killer and rapist who committed the ABC Murders,[1] so named because they began in Atteridgeville, continued in Boksburg and finished in Cleveland, a suburb of Johannesburg.

Sithole murdered at least 37 women and one toddler between 16 July 1994 and 6 November 1995. Sithole was sentenced to 2,410 years imprisonment and is currently incarcerated at Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein.

Early life

Moses Sithole was born on 17 November 1964 in Vosloorus, a township near Boksburg, Transvaal Province (now Gauteng). When he was five years old, his father died and his mother abandoned the family.[2] Sithole and his siblings spent the next three years in an orphanage, where he later said they were mistreated. By his own account, Sithole was arrested for rape in his teens and spent seven years in prison. He later blamed his imprisonment for turning him into a murderer. He explained his crimes by saying that the women he murdered all reminded him of the women who had falsely accused him of rape years before.

Murders

Sithole appeared to be a mild-mannered individual to those around him. At the time of his crimes, he was managing a shell organization, Youth Against Human Abuse, ostensibly devoted to the eradication of child abuse. After committing murders in Atteridgeville, near Pretoria, Sithole moved his focus to Boksburg and eventually to Cleveland. By 1995, he had claimed over thirty victims, sparking nationwide panic. In some cases, he would later phone the victims' families for no other apparent reason than to taunt them.[3] At one point, President Nelson Mandela visited Boksburg in person to appeal for public assistance in apprehending the killer.

Most of his victims were being interviewed for positions with Sithole's ersatz charity. Sithole would take them to remote fields, where he would beat, rape, and murder them. They were generally strangled with their underwear. He once inflicted a head wound on the two-year-old son of one of his victims and left him to die from exposure.

Capture

In August 1995, Sithole was identified as having been seen with one of the victims, but he disappeared shortly after SAPS investigators learned details of his previous rape conviction. In October 1995, Sithole contacted South African journalist Tamsen de Beer and identified himself as the wanted murderer. During a phone conversation with De Beer, he indicated that the killings were carried out in revenge for his unjust imprisonment and claimed 76 victims, twice as many as those reported. Finally, to prove his identity, Sithole gave directions to where one of the bodies had been left.[2] Local authorities subsequently cornered Sithole in Johannesburg, shooting the suspect when he attacked a constable with a hatchet. Sithole was driven to the hospital, where he was found to be HIV positive and also tested positive for TB.[4]

Trial and imprisonment

After De Beer was subpoenaed, she testified at the Pretoria High Court where her evidence was key in the conviction of Sithole. On 5 December 1997, Sithole was sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment for each of the 38 murders, twelve years' imprisonment for each of the 40 rapes, and five years' imprisonment for each of six robberies. Since his sentences run consecutively, his total effective sentence is 2,410 years.

Justice David Curlewis ordered that Sithole would be required to serve at least 930 years before being eligible for parole, making him eligible for parole at the age of 963. The judge also told Sithole that if capital punishment was still used, he would have been sentenced to death. Sithole was incarcerated in C-Max, the maximum security section of Pretoria Central Prison. He is currently incarcerated in Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein.[5]

Victims

Full list of Sithole's victims[6]

NumberNameSexAgeDate of MurderNotes
1Marina Monene MonamaF1816 July 1994
2Amanda Kebofile ThetheF266 August 1994In a relationship with Sithole at the time
3Joyce Thakane MashabelaF3219 August 1994
4Refiloe Amanda Mokale F247 September 1994
5Rose Rebothile MogotsiF2218 September 1994
6Unidentified victim FUnknownDecember 1994Discovered on 3 January 1995
7Beauty Nuku SokoF27January 1995
8Sara Matlakala MokonoF253 March 1995
9Nikiwe Diko F247 April 1995Was raped with a stick; discovered 24 June
10Letta Nomthandazo NdlangamandlaF2512 April 1995
11Sibusiso Nomthandazo NdlangamandlaM2 20 April 1995Letta's son; incidental; injured in the head and died from exposure
12Esther Moshibudi MainetjaF2912 May 1995
13Granny Dimakatso Ramela F2123 May 1995Discovered 18 July
14Elizabeth Granny MathetsaF1925 May 1995Discovered 16 June
15Mildred Ntiya LepuleF2830 May 1995Discovered 26 July
16Francina Nomsa SithebeF2513 June 1995
17Ernestina Mohadi MoseboF3022 June 1995
18Elsie Khoti MasangoF2514 July 1995Discovered 8 August
19Josephine Mantsali MlangeniF2517 July 1995
20Oscarina Vuyokazi JakalaseF308 August 1995Discovered 23 August
21Unidentified victimFUnknown9 August 1995
22Makoba Tryphina MogotsiF2615 August 1995Discovered 17 September
23Unidentified victimFUnknown28 August 1995
24Unidentified victimFUnknown30 August 1995
25Nelisiwe Nontobeko ZuluF264 September 1995Discovered 17 September
26Amelia Dikamakatso RapodileF437 September 1995
27Unidentified victimFUnknown12 September 1995
28Monica Gabisile VilakaziF3112 September 1995Discovered 17 September
29Hazel Nozipho MadikizelaF2117 September 1995
30Tsidi Malekoae MatelaF4517 September 1995
31Unidentified victimFUnknown17 September 1995
32Unidentified victimFUnknown17 September 1995
33Unidentified victimFUnknown17 September 1995
34Agnes Sibongile MbuliF2017 September 1995Discovered 3 October
35Unidentified victimFUnknown9 October 1995
36Beauty Ntombi NdabeniFUnknown10 October 1995Discovered 11 October
37Unidentified victimFUnknown14 October 1995
38Unidentified victimFUnknown6 November 1995

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Worst criminals of SA. Kendal. Rebekah. 3 May 2007. iafrica.com. 3 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110720084655/http://news.iafrica.com/features/827627.htm. 20 July 2011. dead.
  2. Book: Greig, Charlotte. Evil Serial Killers: In the Minds of Monsters. 2005. Barnes & Noble. New York. 0760775664. 176, 177. registration.
  3. [A&E Biography]
  4. South African Strangler: Moses Sithole. Notorious. The Biography Channel.
  5. Web site: Lucinda. Dordley. The bloody history of South Africa's serial killers. capetownetc.com. 31 October 2019. 15 January 2021.
  6. Web site: Moses Sithole: South Africa's Worst Serial Killer . Crime + Investigation . 4 September 2019 .