DNA EVIDENCE UNCOVERS DECADE-LONG CRIME SPREE BY SERIAL OFFENDER

By: Neo Ntsele

The Free State police have expressed approval of the significant sentence given by the Welkom Regional Court to 48-year-old Mzinkwe Leonard Binda, who received a life imprisonment sentence on Tuesday, 02 June 2026.

The Free State Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Thabang Lesia, praised the excellent collaboration between SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Binda’s conviction marks a victory for forensic science and thorough investigative efforts, providing closure to a series of severe crimes committed over more than ten years in Thabong, Welkom, and Bloemfontein.

The sentence is linked to a dreadful incident on 13 October 2006, around 20:30.

A 41-year-old woman was in her secured home when Binda illegally entered.

Armed with a knife, he abducted the woman and took her to a deserted container across the street, where he assaulted her.

He then forced her back into her home, demanded money, and assaulted her two more times in her bedroom before escaping.

Following the incident, cases of burglary, kidnapping, and assault were filed.

Since the suspect was unidentified at the time, SAPS investigators gathered DNA evidence from the scene for analysis, a step that eventually led to Binda’s downfall years later.

Binda was finally apprehended in 2023 on an unrelated house robbery charge.

After his arrest, forensic DNA analysis connected him to a series of unresolved cases in the Thabong area: 2010: Assault GBH, house robbery, and assault (withdrawn as the victim is currently untraceable).

2018: Business robbery.

2019: House robbery and three counts of assault (withdrawn as both victims have since passed away).

Despite some cases being temporarily withdrawn due to untraceable or deceased victims, Binda’s criminal activities were conclusively stopped.

On 25 March 2023, he was formally charged by Sergeant Pontsho Mokoena of the Thabong Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit.

On 02 June 2026, the Welkom Regional Court found Binda guilty on the 2006 charges and sentenced him to life imprisonment for assault, five years for kidnapping, and three years for burglary.

He is still on trial in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court for a 2019 Welkom house robbery case, and a business robbery case in Bloemfontein is still pending against him.

“This sentence clearly demonstrates that while justice may be slow, it is thorough. We applaud the outstanding investigative work of Sergeant Pontsho Mokoena from the Thabong FCS Unit, who worked diligently with State Prosecutor Mathoka to construct a solid case. Their commitment ensures that a dangerous criminal is permanently removed from society,” said Lieutenant General Thabang Lesia.