Notorious criminal Ananias Mathe suffered from an anti-social personality disorder, the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg heard on Friday.
The 33-year-old Mozambican’s psychologist, Wicus Coetzee, said Mathe was never part of a normal society from childhood. He preferred to be alone most of the time.
”He doesn’t know what it is to be in a normal society, his personality was negatively influenced by what happened to him.”
Coetzee said Mathe told him that he ran away from home at the age of 12 because he was scared his mother would give him a hiding after he had dropped out of school. He had left school because his teachers were beating him.
He joined a military camp in Mozambique after that. He later went to Russia for further military training.
”In his life he never had parents teaching him the rules and the laws of society. He only had military training where he was taught how to fight and kill people.”
Coetzee said Mathe’s father was never part of his life and that he might have been a different person otherwise.
He described Mathe’s relationship with his mother as tense.
The psychologist asked the court to not give Mathe a life sentence because he was remorseful and was an intelligent individual who was prepared and able to rehabilitate himself.
But state counsel David Mothibe called for severe punishment.
The matter was adjourned to allow Judge Geraldine Borchers time to consider arguments from both the State and the defence on the sentencing.
Mathe will be back in court on December 8 2009.
He has been convicted of 64 charges of rape, indecent assault, attempted murder, aggravated robbery and housebreaking. — Sapa