The former security guard was handed seven life sentences and an additional 40 years in the Western Cape High Court, the longest term agreed to in a plea agreement presided over by Judge John Hlophe.
According to his agreement with the State, Sedumedi had been lonely since his mother disappeared when he was 13, provincial NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said. According to the now 32-year-old, committing the crimes made him "feel better".
"That is difficult to understand. How do you feel better by causing pain to another person?" Ntabazalila asked. Sedumedi, from Gugulethu, asked women for their contact details, claiming to know of job opportunities for them.
He later contacted them and claimed to have secured them an interview. Instead he lured them to isolated places where he kidnapped, robbed, raped and - in four cases - killed them.
"He confesses that he contacted his victims with the intent to rape them. He admits that he killed the four victims so that they would not identify him," Ntabazalila said. Prosecutor Mornay Julius said the attacks were premeditated and well planned, with devastating consequences.
Last murder
Sedumedi was arrested on January 7, 2015, a day after his last murder in the bushes near Acre Road, Kensington. He was found in possession of some of his victims’ belongings. Four of his victims were murdered. One of them remained unidentified.
Seven young women, including a 15-year-old girl, were attacked. DNA and cellphone records linked him to the 23 charges. He pleaded guilty to 21 charges, and two were withdrawn.
Sedumedi’s family attended proceedings on Thursday and were emotional after the judgment was handed down. They refused to speak to the media.
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