Two men given multiple life terms for rape and murder in Marikana, Philippi East

The Western Cape High Court has sentenced two men to multiple life terms after they raped two women at gunpoint, fatally shot one victim and shot the other in an attempted cover-up in Marikana, Philippi East.

Sentences and convictions

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the court sentenced Bakhokele Sigodi, 36, to four life sentences and 20 years’ direct imprisonment, and Anele Yelani, 26, to three life sentences and 35 years’ direct imprisonment. The two men were convicted on 9 June 2026 on charges that included rape, attempted murder, two counts of murder, illegal possession of a firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.

Attack and evidence presented in court

According to evidence led by Senior State Advocate John Reyneveld, the attacks occurred on the evening of 23 January 2021, when two women went looking for a friend in Marikana. After finding the friend was not home, they went to a nearby bushy field where one woman needed to relieve herself. There they were approached by Sigodi, Yelani and a third man, Yongama Baliso.

The court heard that Sigodi and Yelani, who were armed, forced the women to undress and raped them. After the rapes, the attackers discussed eliminating evidence in the victims’ presence. As the NPA quoted, the men were “ruthless killers who confronted two women while they were relieving themselves, ordered them to undress, raped them, and then discussed, in the victims’ presence, eliminating the evidence before shooting them at close range.”

Sigodi then shot one woman in the arm, neck and chest. Believing her dead, the attackers left while Yelani fatally shot the second victim at the scene. The surviving woman later heard the men return and, despite her injuries, fled and hid before an elderly resident found and assisted her. She was taken to hospital and forensic samples were collected.

Identification and forensic links

The survivor identified Sigodi and Yelani in photographic identification parades and testified she knew all three men from the community, identifying them by their nicknames. DNA evidence linked Sigodi to the surviving victim’s shorts and linked Yelani to the deceased victim; the NPA said both accused were unable to explain those DNA findings.

As NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said, the court rejected the men’s alibis and found that they “had acted in concert to eliminate witnesses to their crimes and had possessed a direct intention to kill.”

Consequences and court orders

The court ordered portions of the sentences to run concurrently, ensuring both men will serve life imprisonment. It also ordered the immediate seizure of any firearm licences, permits and ammunition belonging to the convicted men and declared them unfit to possess firearms. Their names will be entered into the National Register for Sex Offenders.

Reaction

Welcoming the judgment, Ntabazalila said the sentences “demonstrate the courts’ continued intolerance of gender-based violence and other violent crimes that rob women of their dignity, safety, and fundamental rights.”

The third accused, Yongama Baliso, was not among those sentenced in the judgment announced by the court.