The self-confessed rapist of a young Pretoria mother on Monday claimed he thought she "would free herself" after he knotted a piece of wire tightly around her neck.Mpiya Richard Rammutla, 30, of Bronkhorstspruit, admitted guilt to charges of raping and robbing Elize Havenga near her home in Rietgat, east of Pretoria, on February 2 last year.
However, he denied guilt on a charge of murder, claiming it had not been his intention to kill Havenga.
Judge Lettie Malopa will deliver judgment in the trial on Tuesday.
Havenga was on foot on a lonely dirt road near her house after a severe argument with her husband.
Her brother had fetched her, but had dropped her off when she told him she wanted to walk home.
Her husband reported her missing when she did not return home. Her half-naked body was discovered by a search party in dense bushes less than a kilometre from her home.
Rammutla, who was traced through Havenga's cellphone, was later linked to her rape through DNA evidence.
On Monday, he admitted raping Havenga and robbing her of her handbag, containing a camera and a cellphone, but denied taking her wedding rings.
He claimed he tied wire around her neck because she threatened to have him arrested for the rape and he wanted the opportunity to leave. Captain Steven Hermitage testified that Rammutla confessed to the murder after his arrest.
In his statement to Hermitage, Rammutla said he was waiting for a taxi when a white man and woman stopped in the road and the woman started walking down the road.
He followed her and grabbed her after his "mind started thinking wrong things".
The woman had told him he could take her ring, but he was not interested and dragged her into the bushes where he raped her.
When she told him she was going to have him arrested for what he did, he saw a wire lying next to her and tied it around her neck before grabbing her handbag and going home.
He later sold her camera and cellphone for R750 and burnt her handbag.
Source : Sapa /str/clh/ks
Date : 23 Mar 2009 19:21
