Rapist ‘prophet’ who slaughtered mother and daughter jailed for three life terms
Mothupi Tjale Tau appears in the Limpopo High Court, where he was sentenced to three life terms and 37 additional years for the murders of a mother and daughter in The Oaks village.
Image: Supplied / NPA
A self-proclaimed prophet who brutally attacked a family in The Oaks village near Hoedspruit has been sentenced to three life terms and an additional 37 years in prison after being convicted of multiple violent crimes, including the murders of a mother and daughter, rape, kidnapping, and robbery.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Limpopo spokesperson Mashudu Malabi said the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane found 36-year-old Mothupi Tjale Tau guilty of “multiple offences including two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, rape, robbery with aggravating circumstances and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.”
She said the court also ordered that Tau’s name be registered in the National Register of the Sexual Offenders and he be declared unfit to possess a firearm, adding that he is also not eligible to work with children.
Tau had presented himself to the family of Hellen Teiwa Malepe as a prophet offering spiritual guidance. Between 29 and 30 December 2023, he visited her home in The Oaks, demanding money.
“He forcefully dragged Hellen Teiwa Malepe from her house to the nearby bushes where he stabbed her multiple times, leaving her for dead,” Malabi said. “He further robbed her of her cellphone and fled the scene.”
She said Tau then returned to the house, where he found Malepe’s daughter, Kgaogelo Michelle Malepe.
“He strangled her until she was unconscious, and then raped her inside their home. He also inflicted grievous bodily injuries on her. She later succumbed to injuries and was certified dead at the scene.”
Malabi said Tau also attacked Teiwa's five-year-old son.
“He stuffed her 5-year-old son with a jersey in his mouth, tied him with masking tape around his mouth and tied his hands behind his back, and locked him inside the house, leaving him in full exposure of her deceased sister's lifeless body.”
Police arrested Tau after an investigation, and he remained in custody throughout the trial.
In aggravation of sentence, Malabi said senior state advocate Lerato Mohlaka told the court that Tau had been convicted of “more than one type of three most heinous crimes,” including the murders of a mother and daughter and the exposure of a minor to “unspeakable levels of pain, trauma, and violence.”
The State also stressed that gender-based violence had been declared a national disaster and that the case had “sent shock waves to the community of the Oaks Village and the country.”
The National Prosecuting Authority has welcomed the sentence.
Limpopo Director of Public Prosecutions, advocate Ivy Thenga, stated that “all cases of sexual violence encroach on the rights to dignity and privacy of the victims as enshrined in our Constitution, hence the NPA aggressively prosecutes these cases.”
Thenga further praised Mohlaka and investigating officer, Sergeant Shawn Mbhalati of Hoedspruit police station, for securing the conviction.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
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