Jailed Ramabulana’s killer had a history of criminal behaviour

THE CONVICTED murderer who gruesomely raped and stabbed Precious Ramabulana 90 times was known as a notorious hoodlum in his village of Nyakane in Botlokwa, just outside Polokwane.

Aubrey Manaka raped and killed the TVET college student in her residence in Mokomene village.

It emerged this week that the 29-year-old had a history in the closeknit community of raping family members, children and goats, as well as theft and armed robbery.

Community members told the Pretoria News that just before the senseless murder of Ramabulana, 21, on November 24, 2019, there had been a public meeting to discuss dealing with Manaka.

At the time, he had been accused of breaking into an elderly woman’s house, raping her and robbing her of her R300 pension grant.

“He has been a nuisance and a menace to society since he was released out on parole. He terrorised the community in every way he could.

“His mother had known about this, but was protecting him. We were tired of him and did not want to see him walking these streets.

“He once raped a goat, he was caught red-handed, and we could not get him arrested because we did not know that it was even a crime at a time,” said a resident, who asked to remain anonymous.

When Manaka murdered and raped Ramabulana, he was out on parole after serving six years behind bars for a series of heinous crimes.

According to Tiisetso Ramokgopa, a close friend of the Manaka family, there was a 2007 incident where the nowconvicted murderer and rapist allegedly raped his 10-year-old cousin. He was just 16 at the time.

The case was withdrawn after the two families reached an agreement because he had been a minor and the elders had thought it was a mistake of any teenager.

“He is a serial rapist and a murderer and we did not know that at the time because he was young. Ever since that time, we have had countless community gatherings about him and this is the last time we talk about him,” said Ramokgopa.

Allegations that Manaka also sexually molested his relatives are widespread but were not reported to the police.

A woman from his neighbourhood disclosed this week, during his trial at the Polokwane High Court, that she was one of the many rape victims of Manaka’s reign of terror.

Narrating her ordeal to Pretoria News Weekend outside court yesterday, a 71-year- old woman said she was happy that the “maniac” had been removed from society for life.

She said: "He did the same thing to me. He broke my window after I locked the doors to sleep. He asked me to give him some money. When I said I didn't have any, he came into my house and raped me. He took my R300 that I had just earned and left.”

When asked why she did not report the incident, the elderly woman said: “I’m too old. What would people think of me?

“He was caught red-handed raping a goat and nothing happened to him."

Manaka, apparently a nyaope addict, also severely bludgeoned those who stepped on his toes during drinking escapades in taverns.

He was yesterday sentenced to two life sentences after he pleaded guilty to killing and raping Ramabulana.