The 37-year sentence was handed down to Collen Mandla Ndala, 43, on Friday, and has been welcomed by Mpumalanga's police chief, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma.

Police said in a statement the Mkobola Regional Court in Kwaggafontein convicted Ndala "for various charges, including rape, assault with intention to cause grievous bodily harm, attempted rape, kidnapping as well as compelled self-sexual assault".

"The court heard how between December 2013 and January 2015, Ndala, who by then worked as a taxi driver, took advantage of his victims by targeting vulnerable and unsuspecting women who were hitchhiking at night," said police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi.

"When handing down sentence, the Regional Court magistrate said that the type of sentence to be imposed should fit the crime committed, and also indicated that crimes against women and children occur almost every day, including during the period of the nationwide lockdown," police said.

On count 2, attempted rape, Ndala was sent packing to three years, whereas on count 3, kidnapping, he was sentenced to five years.