'I still remember what he smelled like' - Mathe victim
Johannesburg - A victim of serial rapist Ananias Mathe, who died in a Durban hospital on Tuesday, says she still remembers the smell of his sweat.
Mathe, dubbed the Houdini of C-Max after a daring escape from the Pretoria prison, remains one of the most notorious criminals in the country’s history.
He perpetrated a string of crimes, including rape, attempted murder and robbery while at large.
One of his victims, who spoke to News24 on condition of anonymity, recounted in chilling detail the day in 2004 when Mathe snuck into her Weltevreden Park home and tried to rape her.
She was 17 years old at the time and her parents had not been home.
'He climbed on top of me'
"I woke up to the sound of my sister screaming and I was so disoriented. I still wondered whether or not I should put my contact lenses in. When I heard her scream again, I went to go check on her. I was seeing in a blur and as I opened my door, he was standing right there. I can remember the look of his head in the mirror because I couldn’t look him in the eyes," she said.
"He allowed me to go to my sister and I got into bed with her and she threw the covers over us… She held me tightly… He asked us where our boyfriends were and where the safe was."
She said that he moved so silently it was impossible to tell when he was coming and going.
"We debated about running to the bathroom, but we couldn’t because we didn’t know where he was. Then he came back into the room and pulled my legs down... threw the blanket over my head and pulled my shorts down."
"He climbed on top of me and his pants were off because I could feel his bare skin on my legs. He smelt like stale sweat and he ran his finger up my legs and he started shifting down my legs… that is when my sister just started kicking and screaming. She kicked him in the chest and he ran off. We ran after him, screaming," she said.
Mathe had made his escape the same way he entered, through a small gap he had cut in the burglar bars on a window.
The sisters found their two dogs dead outside, apparently poisoned by Mathe.
He was eventually convicted for the incident.
TimesLive reported that Mathe had been ill and had undergone several surgical procedures before his death.
