Sipho Agmatir Thwala was South Africa's Phoenix Strangler. Although he
only operated for the relatively short period of a year from 1996 to
1997 he was to make it a terrifying year for KwaZulu-Natal province and
rapidly became the most wanted man in the region.
His MO was straightforward – he would lure women to sugar cane
fields with the promise of work before raping and strangling them with
their own underwear, then bury them in shallow graves.
Thwala appeared normal around his family and was above average
intelligence. A police profile described him as "intelligent and
charming to women, but extremely dangerous".
He was arrested in 1997 after police matched DNA found on the
victims to DNA taken from Thwala several years earlier when he was
arrested for rape, though he was later acquitted of those charges.
On 31 March 1999, Thwala was found guilty of 16 murders and 10
rapes, and sentenced to 506 years in prison. In testament to the
strength of local feeling about the murders, Thwala’s house was burned
down by an angry mob who had received a false tip-off that he was
there. His mother and sister were locked inside at the time and only
just managed to escape with the help of a friend.
