Sipho Dube is a serial murderer and paedophile who cannot be rehabilitated, a police forensic psychologist told the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday.
”Studies prove that child molesters are most difficult to rehabilitate … In this instance the accused qualifies,” said Dr Gerald Labuschagne.
Dube (30) was found guilty last week of murdering six children and a woman, raping three girls and indecently assaulting boys.
Labuschagne was testifying in aggravation of Dube’s sentence.
He said denial of responsibility for the criminal acts, as in Dube’s case, was seen as ”the first and largest stumbling block in any rehabilitation process”.
Asked what the motivation of jailing Dube was when there were no prospects of positive rehabilitation, Labuschagne told judge Seun Moshidi that there was no option but to jail Dube as he was a threat to society.
Labuschagne also said there were possibilities that more children could have been molested or even killed if Dube was never arrested.
”It is common for sexual serial murderers to escalate their crimes as time goes by … even if they were to receive the most desirable rehabilitation programme, because their risk of re-offending increases with each passing year … as long as their sex drive remains.”
He said Dube’s intelligence gained him the trust of his young victims.
”He had to have a sophisticated form of manipulation for him to get his victims to do what he wanted … going with him wherever he asked them to.”
Just before Labuschagne took the witness stand, Dube’s aunt Sibongile Mkhize told the court that her nephew had had a troubled childhood.
She said Dube often stole from his grandmother and even skipped school until he dropped out when doing standard two.
Mkhize pinned all the blame on Dube’s paternal family, saying they had failed to carry out their traditional obligations.
”His father failed to perform imbeleko — a traditional ceremony — for him and this led to his bad behaviour.”
She said the family was told this after taking Dube to spiritual healers for help.
But consulting the healers never helped as Dube’s behaviour worsened.
”He started getting involved in housebreakings,” Mkhize said.
The housebreakings she referred to were confirmed when state prosecutor Joanie Spies said Dube was once sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for a housebreaking he committed at Ladysmith in January 1999.
Apart from the 1999 conviction, he was also said to have served an 18-month term for attempted theft, also in Ladysmith.
Dube was also convicted of 10 kidnappings, one theft, one robbery, one common assault and one assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
On Wednesday Dube swore at photographers who tried to take photographs of him — even attempting to throw a bottle and a microphone at them.
The hearing continues Thursday. — Sapa