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What do Oscar Pistorius, Johan Kotze (Modimolle Monster) and the Waterkloof 4 have in common? They all seem to be more notorious than all of South Africa’s worst serial killers.
The media storm over Oscar I can understand, that was because of public interest. But Johan Kotze and the Waterkloof 4 were not public figures. The overkill in terms of media attention in the Waterkloof 4 case was most likely because of the racial element. Whatever the reasons, point is that our serial killers seldom receive substantial media attention and thus the general public know very little about individual serial killers and serial killings in general.
Post-Apartheid - Serial killing on the rise
In 1994 the Mail & Guardian published an article titled “Serial killing rare in SA” which up until that time was fairly accurate. However, by 2003 we had risen to one of the top three producers of serial killers in the world, along with Russia and The United States. And that is where we are today. To date we have had approximately 160 serial killers since 1950, the vast majority of which started their killing sprees from 1990 onwards. Not only has there been an exponential increase in serial killers but also a significant racial shift, which we’ll get to just now. The reason for this is interesting and appears to be quite complex.
According to Gerard Labuschagne, the head of the police Investigative Psychology Unit (IPU), “the fall of Apartheid had been accompanied by significant social change that provided fertile conditions for such crimes”. A University of Pretoria paper adds a number of factors resulting in the growing trend:
· “social upheaval”
· “increased Westernization and influence of an apparently Western phenomenon such as serial murder”
· “reassessment of societal norms and values”
· “a response to the lack of immediate realization of such opportunities in a democratic South Africa, or the selective availability of opportunities to realize goals amongst certain sectors of the previously disadvantaged, and not others”
· “high rates of violent crime post 1990, increased urbanisation and overcrowding of urban areas resulting in anonymity and depersonalisation and normalisation of interpersonal violence”
The extent of change in serial killings when comparing pre 1990 to post 1990 may be somewhat mitigated as the paper suggests, due to a lack of attention given to serial killings pre 1990 caused by:
· “biases in crime reporting”
· “lack of attention due to lack of awareness of the phenomenon, poor ability to link cases of murder, insufficient sensitivity or discrimination between crime types on the part of the media, lack of specialized training on the part of SA law enforcement”
· “exclusion of crimes committed and reported in the homelands and KZN”
Serial killers are white, and other myths
Several myths exist regarding serial killers and these myths are continually propagated by movies and television. Regarding gender, research shows that in South Africa, female serial killers have been virtually non-existent whereas in the US female serial killers make up around 10%. Regarding the myth that serial killers are white, I’m going to strongly disagree.
A recent article titled “Most SA serial killers are white males” is an example of media propagating this myth. Although it went on to say that “proportionally more white men are serial killers than any other racial group”, the heading was clearly misleading and could be argued that it was deliberate considering that only 1 in 5 readers go on to read the full article.
Of the total number of convicted serial killers in South Africa, approximately 7 in 10 are black, 1 in 10 are coloured and 2 in 10 are white, an overrepresentation. But these are historical figures. Earlier I mentioned that there has been a clear racial shift post-Apartheid which I’d like to explain by using ratios of white serial killers to total serial killers over a series of time periods:
· Convicted white serial killers - pre 1994– 5 in 10
· Convicted white serial killers 1995 to 2004 – 2 in 10
· Convicted white serial killers 2005 to date – 1 in 10
· Convicted white serial killers 2009 to date – 0 in 10
So firstly, it’s incorrect to say that most serial killers are white. Secondly, while serial killers in our history have been disproportionately white, at present the serial killers who are active and who are being produced are disproportionately black. This brings me back to Apartheid – What is the reason for the substantial decline after 1994 of the white (mostly Afrikaner) serial killers that tormented the nation in the 80’s and early 90’s?
Other myths, which are important to understand in order to understand serial killers, include:
· Serial killers are loners incapable of long term relationships – There have been many cases of serial killers being in stable relationships, even living with their partners.
· Serial killers are extremely intelligent – Most serial killers are found to be below or of average intelligence.
· Serial killers like to travel – In South Africa especially, serial killers have tended to kill in one area while there are only a handful of cases where they killed outside their resident provinces.
· Serial killers are motivated by sex – While the majority of cases have a sexual element, other prominent motives include anger towards a group, mental illness and profit.
· Serial killers cannot stop killing – There have been cases where the killer has had long cooling off periods extending more than a decade, or has ceased killing altogether.
· Serial killers target women – Around 35% of victims so far have been male. The majority of victims are black women.
South Africa’s most prolific serial killers
As mentioned earlier, even the most prolific serial killers are unknown to a large portion of the general public and are less notorious than single murder cases that hogged the media’s attention. Between 2003, the arrest of the Waterkloof 4, and 2008, their imprisonment, a number of prolific serial killers went on killing sprees, were caught and convicted:
· David Randitsheni (Modimolle Child Killer) – Convicted in 2009 on 10 counts of murder, 17 counts of rape, 18 counts of kidnapping. All but one of his victims were children. Crimes occurred in Modimolle during 2004 to 2008.
· Jimmy Maketta (Jesus Killer) – Convicted in 2007 on 16 counts of murder and 19 counts of rape. Crimes occurred in Philippi, Cape Town in 2005.
· Thomazile Taki (Umzinto Sugar Cane) – Convicted in 2010 on 13 counts of murder and 16 counts of armed robbery. His victims were all young women. Crimes occurred in KZN in 2007.
· Sibusiso Duma – Convicted on 7 counts of murder and numerous other charges relating to rape, kidnapping, torture, theft. Crimes occurred near PMB, KZN in 2007.
· Jack Mogale (West End Killer) – Convicted in 2011 of 16 counts of murder, 19 counts of rape, 9 kidnappings and various other charges. Crimes occurred south of Joburg during 2008 and 2009.
More recently, another couple of serial killers slipped under the radar in 2012/2013 while Johan Kotze (Modimolle Monster) hogged headlines.
· Petrus Madiba – Convicted in 2013 of murdering 8 women and a baby in 2012 in Mpumalanga.
· Batshabeng Motsame – Convicted last year of murdering 8 people in 2012 in the North West.
· Bulelani Mabhayi (Monster of Thuleni) – Convicted in 2013 on 20 counts of murder, 6 counts of rape and 10 counts of breaking and entering. Crimes occurred in Thuleni, Eastern Cape between 2007 and 2012.
Other prolific serial killers include:
· Richard Nyauza (Man of God) – 16 victims
· McPherson Nyonga (Keiskammahoek) – 13 victims
· Velaphi Ndlangamandla (Saloon Killer) – 19 victims
· Cedric Maake (Wemmer Pan Killer) – 27 victims
· Sipho Thwala (Phoenix Strangler) – 16 victims
· Francois Potgieter (Roadside) – 16 victims
· Sylvester Mofokeng – 12 victims
· Moses Sithole (ABC & Atteridgeville Strangler) – 38 victims
· Chrostopher Zikode (Donnybrook) – 18 victims
· David Selepe (Cleveland Strangler) – 11 victims
· Lazarus Mazingane (Nasrec Killer) – 16 victims
· Mukosi Freddy Mulaudzi (Siloam) – 13 victims
· Stewart Wilken (Boetie Boer) – 10 victims
· Philip Ndyave – 12 victims
· David Motshekgwa (Klerksdorp) – 14 victims
· Johannes Mashiane (Beast of Atteridgeville) – 13 victims
· Josheph Mahlangu (Lovers Lane) – 13 victims
· John Phukokgabi (Atteridgeville) – 16 victims
· Elias Xitavhudzi (Pangaman) – 16 victims
· Elifasi Msomi (The Axe Killer) – 15 victims
That is a horrifying list. A worrying statistic, as demonstrated above, is the number of victims killed by each killer. In the US, 6 in 10 killers kill two to four victims each, 3 in 10 kill five to nine victims and 1 in 10 kill ten or more victims. In SA, 4 in 10 killers kill two to four victims, 4 in 10 kill five to nine victims and 2 in 10 kill ten or more victims. This is probably due to factors mentioned earlier, as well as differences in policing between our police and American police.
It’s scary to think that we have the third most serial killers in the world on top of being arguably the most violent/homicidal country in the world. While several serial killers are still on the loose, the IPU has shown good results (80% cases solved) in catching these criminals. However, I still think there is not enough media attention when it comes to serial killers and the more the public know the better. A recent FBI report supports the notion of responsible media reporting which could lead to more witnesses. On the other hand there is a risk of inflaming the killer if reporting is derogatory, and a risk of interfering with law enforcement strategy. There needs to be a clear balance.
The topic of the serial killer is a very interesting one and I hope I’ve provided some useful insight.
