Madumetsa Jack Mogale

Case record: Madumetsa Jack Mogale

Overview

Madumetsa Jack Mogale (born 1968/9) was a South African serial killer dubbed the West-End serial killer by police. Police said he killed 16 people in 2008 and 2009. He was convicted on 17 February 2011 on 52 of 61 charges related to 16 murders, 19 rapes and nine kidnappings.

Police said Mogale committed his crimes near his residence in Westonaria and Lenasia south of Johannesburg. The crimes were mainly committed at the West-End brick and clay factory near his home in Waterworks, Westonaria, and at various locations in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg. Police said he attacked and murdered 15 women and a child between March 2008 and March 2009.

Two women who survived being attacked by Mogale testified at trial that he claimed to be a Zion Christian Church (ZCC) preacher and a prophet.

Timeline

• March 2008 to March 2009 — Mogale attacked and murdered 15 women and a child in the Lenasia and Westonaria area.
• March 2009 — Police arrested Mogale after he was linked to the brutal attack and rape of a Venterspost teenager earlier that month.
• February 10, 2011 — A High Court in Johannesburg heard that Mogale tried to urinate on police officers during his arrest at his shack near Zuurbekom in March 2009.
• March 16, 2011 — Mogale was found guilty in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday on 52 of 61 charges.
• 17 February 2011 — Mogale was convicted on 52 of 61 charges related to 16 murders, 19 rapes and nine kidnappings.
• March 17, 2011 — Mogale was sentenced to 16 life sentences to run concurrently plus 23 years without the possibility of parole.

The offence

Police said Mogale lured black women to open areas where he raped and murdered them. Many victims were unidentified but linked to him through investigations. Police said nearly all the crimes had a similar modus operandi, circumstance, victimology and location.

Police said most victims were strangled or killed with blunt force injury, and 14 had a sexual nature, which was described as indicative of a serial killer. The court said that, in all the bodies except the one of a child, the cause of death was strangulation. Bodies were left in sexual positions, naked and raped.

Charges and counts of conviction

The court found Mogale guilty of:

• nine kidnappings,
• 19 rapes,
• 16 murders,
• an attempted murder,
• three robberies with aggravating circumstances,
• a fraud or theft,
• an assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm,
• a sexual assault,
• an escape from lawful custody.

The conviction covered 52 of 61 charges.

Investigation

Investigators conducted forensic analysis and used expert advice from Professor Gerard Labuschagne, who headed the police’s investigative psychology unit. The court said that the judgment was assisted, to a large degree, by forensic analysis and expert advice.

Professor Labuschagne concluded that the cases were “undoubtedly by the same offender”. The court said that the evidence indicated that the murders were the work of a serial killer and it all pointed to Mogale.

Police said evidence linked Mogale to victims including:

• DNA evidence,
• admissions,
• testimonies from survivors,
• a confession statement made after arrest,
• an investigation-based link between cases via similarities and locations,
• a sim card belonging to the accused being inserted in a victim’s missing cellphone, which the accused could not explain when questioned.

The court said much of the uncontested evidence included DNA evidence, admissions and testimonies.

Arrest

Police arrested Mogale when they were given his car registration number after a teenager went missing.

On the day of arrest, Mogale was described as displaying hatred for women. A policewoman testified that Mogale behaved like a psychopath and showed his manhood to a female police officer. When he met the same policewoman at the station, he said: “when I come out of here you will be the first person I rape and kill.

Police said Mogale tried to urinate on the police officers arresting him at his shack near Zuurbekom in March 2009. Westonaria policewoman Captain Kgomotso Manthata told the court that after Mogale’s hands were handcuffed in front of him, he took out his penis and tried to urinate on police officers. She said he swore at members of the public who had gathered at the scene, prompting officers to secure Mogale’s hands behind his back.

Captain Kgomotso Manthata testified that she went to Mogale’s home on March 27 2009 with a team of police officers to arrest him after he was linked to the brutal attack and rape of a Venterspost teenager earlier that month. She said the girl was offered a lift by Mogale, who told her he was a Zion Christian Church (ZCC) preacher and a prophet. Instead of taking the girl to her destination, Mogale drove her to a veld outside Westonaria, where he allegedly assaulted her until she was unconscious then raped her. The girl regained consciousness more than 24-hours later.

Captain Kgomotso Manthata said that during Mogale’s arrest the girl’s cellphone was recovered in his shack, along with a white g-string and sangoma beads. She said the way in which the teenager was attacked was similar to the attacks on several other women in the Westonaria area, indicating that the same perpetrator was involved.

Manthata said she started looking for a ZCC preacher who wore sangoma beads and drove a white Volkswagen Golf with a specific registration number after receiving information from the victims who survived.

Police said most of Mogale’s victims’ bodies were found decomposing in the veld.

Trial

Plea and defence

Mogale pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

During the trial, Mogale continually testified that police, witnesses and his common-law wife Charlotte Manaka were conspiring against him. Judge Frans Kgomo dismissed this claim as “far-fetched” and “fallacious”.

Mogale also testified to shifting blame. Judge Frans Kgomo described Mogale as an untruthful witness who contradicted himself numerous times.

Judge Frans Kgomo said:

“I can safely say that the accused was an untruthful witness whose evidence cannot be relied on. He contradicted himself and came up with new versions. I formed the impression that he was not telling the whole truth,” said Kgomo. “The state has proved beyond reasonable doubt the accused’s guilt”.

Judge Frans Kgomo also said the calm and sequential manner in which 41 State witnesses testified throughout the trial was key in building the prosecution. He said: “The accused [however] was not a very good witness... with his contradictions and new versions [of events]... at times he wanted to shift blame onto his defence counsel,” Kgomo said.

He added:

“I came to the conclusion that he was not telling the whole truth to the court.
“The accused did also not bring in witnesses to back up statements made during cross-examination by the State.”

Judge Frans Kgomo started judgment by dismissing Mogale’s version that police had conspired against him by taking a used condom from his house on the day he was arrested and using the specimen found in it as DNA evidence. The judge said:

“This defense is very suspicious, especially because the DNA kit was compiled long before the accused was even identified as a suspect and long before he was arrested. The accused's own girlfriend testified that they were not using condoms,” said the judge.

Judge Frans Kgomo said Charlotte Manaka confirmed that Mogale normally wore a Zion Christian Church badge or sangoma beads, confirming evidence of two women who said they were tricked into believing Mogale was a prophet sent by God to cure them. The women identified him by the badge and sangoma beads.

Judge Frans Kgomo rejected Mogale’s version that police fabricated the contents of his confession statement, calling it a “fragment of his own imagination”.

Mogale’s statements included:

“I didn't do anything. You know how life is, this is a challenge, I didn't do any of those things. I don't even know those women”

Survivor testimony and evidence of method

One woman testified that she was given a herbal “tea” for uterine problems. She said Mogale put herbs into her vagina and said he needed to have sexual intercourse to exorcise evil spirits from her. The woman said Mogale claimed they were having an affair and the sex was consensual.

Another woman testified that Mogale gave her a lift, claimed to be prophesying over her, then took her to a veld where he attacked her. She said that when she regained consciousness 24 hours later, her jaw had been dislocated and maggots were on her wounds.

A woman described as one of the alleged victims was 19 years old when Mogale allegedly battered her face with a brick while raping her in an open veld in Westonaria. She testified that she had accepted a lift from Mogale and only realised that she was in danger when he took the wrong turn and became aggressive when she asked where they were going. She said that after the rape, he left her unconscious and bleeding in the veld. She said she only woke up the following day and crawled to a nearby road where she was able to get help.

Victims named in the proceedings

The record included allegations involving named victims:

• Hanyeleni Mhangwani, who had testified against him in a RDP house fraud case at Westonaria magistrate’s court,
• Dipuo Mogadi,
• Umanikazonke Sindane,
• Sonto Tsotetsi,
• Nothembela Ndabisa,
• Dipuo Denese,
• Mamikie Tlallo,
• nine other women whose bodies have not been identified.

Sentencing

Judge Frans Kgomo sentenced Mogale to multiple life terms. The court said Mogale was sentenced to 16 life sentences which were to run concurrently.

The court said Mogale would serve another 23 years thereafter without the possibility of parole. Judge Kgomo said this was because Mogale was a danger to society.

As Mogale left the court, he shouted in Sepedi at the families of his victims: “You are also coming, I pray. I will be out soon.”

Judge Kgomo described Mogale as evil and said he should be kept away from women and society:

“Evil Kgomo said Mogale was evil and should be kept away from women and society.”

Outcome

Mogale was convicted on 17 February 2011 on 52 of 61 charges related to 16 murders, 19 rapes and nine kidnappings. On sentencing on March 17, 2011, he was sentenced to 16 life sentences running concurrently and an additional 23 years without the possibility of parole.

Aftermath

No further post-sentencing developments were included in the provided material.