The Table Mountain rapist licked his victim’s private parts in the belief that she would enjoy it, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court heard on Friday.
Jeremia Lebogang Bhengi (25), of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to one charge of indecent assault, one of rape and one of attempted murder when he appeared before magistrate Herman van der Merwe.
His court appearance was a sequel to two alleged attacks on female tourists on Table Mountain, one on December 4 and the other on December 7.
On a second charge of attempted murder and one of aggravated robbery, Bhengi disputed the facts and the magistrate entered pleas of not guilty.
Police investigators had hoped Bhengi would plead guilty to all five charges, which would have enabled his two victims to go home without delay, and not have to return to testify at his trial.
Bhengi chose to ”do his own talking”, without the help of a lawyer, and for this reason was closely questioned by the magistrate.
On the indecent assault and rape charges, he told the court his friend Luck Ntuli had gone for a ride on the mountain, on a bicycle that had been parked by the German rape victim.
When the victim asked Bhengi where her bicycle was, he had led her to a nearby deserted spot under a bridge.
There, he had brandished a knife, and ordered her to remove her pants and to lie on the ground.
He said he started licking her private parts, and asked her where she had come from. He also asked if she had ever ”been with” a black man before, and she said it was the first time.
He said she asked if he had a condom, and he told her he always had condoms.
He told the court he had sex with her, and she then said she was going to Camps Bay.
He said he asked for a lift, and accompanied her to her car.
However, the car would not start, so he got out again, taking with a cellphone that was on the car’s dashboard.
Bhengi said he apologised to her for having had sex with her, and told her he had only wanted money.
Asked if he had been aware at the time that his actions were punishable, he replied: ”When I licked her private parts, I thought she would enjoy it and not report me.”
He told the court he had, prior to the alleged rape, smoked a mixture of dagga and Mandrax.
On one charge of attempted murder, he is alleged to have knifed a rape victim in the neck and stomach, but he said he had merely threatened her with the knife.
On a second attempted murder charge, involving a Japanese woman, he said she had asked him to take photographs of her on Table Mountain with her camera.
After doing so, he had followed her up a flight of steps before demanding her camera and cellphone at knifepoint. She had resisted, and he had stabbed her three times until he saw she was bleeding.
She fled to nearby taxis, but he denied taking her camera and cellphone.
Bhengi was remanded to December 30 for a possible bail application.
Ntuli appeared in court earlier this week, charged with the theft of the rape victim’s bicycle, and was remanded to December 20. — Sapa