Luyanda Botha, currently serving a life imprisonment term for the rape and murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana, will return to the dock next month for an attempted rape that allegedly occurred in 2014. Botha is accused of visiting a nursing student at a training college in Athlone and attempting to rape her, but she fought him off.
He was later arrested. Botha, who pleaded not guilty, is currently serving three life terms after being sentenced in November 2019. He murdered 19-year-old Mrwetyana at the Clareinch Post Office in Claremont on August 24, 2019, sparking a nationwide outcry. He entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State when he confessed to making sexual advances to Mrwetyana, which she ignored.
After making sexual advances, Botha raped her and locked her in a post office safe, where she was bludgeoned to death with a blunt object to the head. After spending the evening drinking at a local tavern, Botha returned to the post office, bundled her body into his car boot, and drove her to Lingelethu West, where he burned her.
