The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has welcomed the life sentence handed down on Thursday to the man who raped and murdered HIV-positive TAC activist Lorna Mlofane.
Cape High Court judge Dumisani Zondi sentenced Ncedile Ntumbukane to life in prison for the murder in December 2003, and a concurrent ten years for the rape, the TAC said.
Co-accused Vuyelwa Dlova received ten years for assault, three of them suspended.
The court found that Ntumbukane raped Mlofane in a Khayelitsha shebeen toilet, then attacked her when he discovered she was HIV-positive.
According to her advocate, Dlova joined the attack ”because she believed Mlofane was giving Aids to the township men”.
The TAC, whose supporters have attended the trial regularly, said it welcomed the sentence, but was disappointed that it had taken over two years to conclude the matter.
It said the state should give the criminal justice system more resources to combat violence against women.
”As long as it took to achieve justice for Lorna’s family, it takes much longer for most other cases of this nature. Many murders and rapes are never solved or investigated properly because of the criminal justice system’s lack of resources,” the TAC said. – Sapa