The Acting Provincial Commissioner of North West, Major General Dintletse Molefe, welcomed the sentence handed down to Akanyang Rakodi (41) on 5 May 2021, by the North West High Court sitting in Mogwase.
Rakodi made a first appearance in the Mogwase Magistrates’ Court in July 2020 for the murder of the late Khumontle Mokgosi, then aged 25. He was arrested after the long arm of the law caught up with him on Friday, 3 July 2020, at Goo-Mokgatle Section in Dinokana village outside Zeerust during a crime intelligence driven operation by a multidisciplinary team comprising of Bojanala District and Zeerust Task Teams as well as Provincial Traffic.
During the arrest, the suspect was found in possession of the deceased’s bank card, clothes, car battery and liquor. The investigation team further recovered Mokgosi’s two cell phones. It also came out during investigation that the young teacher’s bank card was used to withdraw cash from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in Northam and Zeerust.
Mokgosi’s lifeless body was found on Monday, 29 June 2020 at her rented place in Magong village near Mogwase by neighbours and members of the School Governing Body (SGB) who conducted a search after the young teacher failed to report for duty.
The deceased’s body was found with hands and feet tied.
The accused was sentenced as follows:
Murder: life imprisonment
Rape: life imprisonment
Robbery: 15 years imprisonment
Fraud: 5 years imprisonment
The Acting Provincial Commissioner applauded the investigating team and all other role players including prosecution for their diligence in ensuring that the accused gets maximum sentence, which she said will serve as a warning to those who commit crime including Gender Based Violence that they will do the time in jail.
