| Moses Sithole | |
| Alias: | The ABC Killer The South African Strangler The Gauteng Killer |
| Birth Date: | 1964 11, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Vosloorus, Gauteng, South Africa |
| Sentence: | 2,410 years' imprisonment |
| Conviction: | Murder Rape Robbery |
| Victims: | 38–76 |
| Beginyear: | 1994 |
| Endyear: | 1995 |
| Country: | South Africa |
| States: | Atteridgeville, Gauteng, Johannesburg |
| Apprehended: | 6 November 1995 |
| Imprisoned: | Mangaung Correctional Centre |
Moses Sithole (born 17 November 1964) is a South African serial killer and rapist who committed the ABC Murders,[1] so named because they began in Atteridgeville, continued in Boksburg and finished in Cleveland, a suburb of Johannesburg.
Sithole murdered at least 37 women and one toddler between 16 July 1994 and 6 November 1995. Sithole was sentenced to 2,410 years imprisonment and is currently incarcerated at Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein.
Moses Sithole was born on 17 November 1964 in Vosloorus, a township near Boksburg, Transvaal Province (now Gauteng). When he was five years old, his father died and his mother abandoned the family.[2] Sithole and his siblings spent the next three years in an orphanage, where he later said they were mistreated. By his own account, Sithole was arrested for rape in his teens and spent seven years in prison. He later blamed his imprisonment for turning him into a murderer. He explained his crimes by saying that the women he murdered all reminded him of the women who had falsely accused him of rape years before.
Sithole appeared to be a mild-mannered individual to those around him. At the time of his crimes, he was managing a shell organization, Youth Against Human Abuse, ostensibly devoted to the eradication of child abuse. After committing murders in Atteridgeville, near Pretoria, Sithole moved his focus to Boksburg and eventually to Cleveland. By 1995, he had claimed over thirty victims, sparking nationwide panic. In some cases, he would later phone the victims' families for no other apparent reason than to taunt them.[3] At one point, President Nelson Mandela visited Boksburg in person to appeal for public assistance in apprehending the killer.
Most of his victims were being interviewed for positions with Sithole's ersatz charity. Sithole would take them to remote fields, where he would beat, rape, and murder them. They were generally strangled with their underwear. He once inflicted a head wound on the two-year-old son of one of his victims and left him to die from exposure.
In August 1995, Sithole was identified as having been seen with one of the victims, but he disappeared shortly after SAPS investigators learned details of his previous rape conviction. In October 1995, Sithole contacted South African journalist Tamsen de Beer and identified himself as the wanted murderer. During a phone conversation with De Beer, he indicated that the killings were carried out in revenge for his unjust imprisonment and claimed 76 victims, twice as many as those reported. Finally, to prove his identity, Sithole gave directions to where one of the bodies had been left.[2] Local authorities subsequently cornered Sithole in Johannesburg, shooting the suspect when he attacked a constable with a hatchet. Sithole was driven to the hospital, where he was found to be HIV positive and also tested positive for TB.[4]
After De Beer was subpoenaed, she testified at the Pretoria High Court where her evidence was key in the conviction of Sithole. On 5 December 1997, Sithole was sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment for each of the 38 murders, twelve years' imprisonment for each of the 40 rapes, and five years' imprisonment for each of six robberies. Since his sentences run consecutively, his total effective sentence is 2,410 years.
Justice David Curlewis ordered that Sithole would be required to serve at least 930 years before being eligible for parole, making him eligible for parole at the age of 963. The judge also told Sithole that if capital punishment was still used, he would have been sentenced to death. Sithole was incarcerated in C-Max, the maximum security section of Pretoria Central Prison. He is currently incarcerated in Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein.[5]
Full list of Sithole's victims[6]
| Number | Name | Sex | Age | Date of Murder | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marina Monene Monama | F | 18 | 16 July 1994 | ||
| 2 | Amanda Kebofile Thethe | F | 26 | 6 August 1994 | In a relationship with Sithole at the time | |
| 3 | Joyce Thakane Mashabela | F | 32 | 19 August 1994 | ||
| 4 | Refiloe Amanda Mokale | F | 24 | 7 September 1994 | ||
| 5 | Rose Rebothile Mogotsi | F | 22 | 18 September 1994 | ||
| 6 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | December 1994 | Discovered on 3 January 1995 | |
| 7 | Beauty Nuku Soko | F | 27 | January 1995 | ||
| 8 | Sara Matlakala Mokono | F | 25 | 3 March 1995 | ||
| 9 | Nikiwe Diko | F | 24 | 7 April 1995 | Was raped with a stick; discovered 24 June | |
| 10 | Letta Nomthandazo Ndlangamandla | F | 25 | 12 April 1995 | ||
| 11 | Sibusiso Nomthandazo Ndlangamandla | M | 2 | 20 April 1995 | Letta's son; incidental; injured in the head and died from exposure | |
| 12 | Esther Moshibudi Mainetja | F | 29 | 12 May 1995 | ||
| 13 | Granny Dimakatso Ramela | F | 21 | 23 May 1995 | Discovered 18 July | |
| 14 | Elizabeth Granny Mathetsa | F | 19 | 25 May 1995 | Discovered 16 June | |
| 15 | Mildred Ntiya Lepule | F | 28 | 30 May 1995 | Discovered 26 July | |
| 16 | Francina Nomsa Sithebe | F | 25 | 13 June 1995 | ||
| 17 | Ernestina Mohadi Mosebo | F | 30 | 22 June 1995 | ||
| 18 | Elsie Khoti Masango | F | 25 | 14 July 1995 | Discovered 8 August | |
| 19 | Josephine Mantsali Mlangeni | F | 25 | 17 July 1995 | ||
| 20 | Oscarina Vuyokazi Jakalase | F | 30 | 8 August 1995 | Discovered 23 August | |
| 21 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 9 August 1995 | ||
| 22 | Makoba Tryphina Mogotsi | F | 26 | 15 August 1995 | Discovered 17 September | |
| 23 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 28 August 1995 | ||
| 24 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 30 August 1995 | ||
| 25 | Nelisiwe Nontobeko Zulu | F | 26 | 4 September 1995 | Discovered 17 September | |
| 26 | Amelia Dikamakatso Rapodile | F | 43 | 7 September 1995 | ||
| 27 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 12 September 1995 | ||
| 28 | Monica Gabisile Vilakazi | F | 31 | 12 September 1995 | Discovered 17 September | |
| 29 | Hazel Nozipho Madikizela | F | 21 | 17 September 1995 | ||
| 30 | Tsidi Malekoae Matela | F | 45 | 17 September 1995 | ||
| 31 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 17 September 1995 | ||
| 32 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 17 September 1995 | ||
| 33 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 17 September 1995 | ||
| 34 | Agnes Sibongile Mbuli | F | 20 | 17 September 1995 | Discovered 3 October | |
| 35 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 9 October 1995 | ||
| 36 | Beauty Ntombi Ndabeni | F | Unknown | 10 October 1995 | Discovered 11 October | |
| 37 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 14 October 1995 | ||
| 38 | Unidentified victim | F | Unknown | 6 November 1995 |