Through the lens of horror: Jasyn Howes explores the gripping tale of 'The ABC Killer', Moses Sithole
Image: Supplied
As South Africa was celebrating the dawn of democracy in the mid-1990s, a serial killer was on the loose, determined to exact revenge on as many women as he could.
Taking advantage of their newfound freedom of movement, Moses Sithole would prey on defenceless ladies who were in search of job opportunities in Gauteng at the time.
Dubbed the 'ABC Killer' – a name derived from his modus operandi of targeting young, black women across vulnerable areas like Atteridgeville, Boksburg and Cleveland, he would appear charming and friendly, meeting them in public places with the promise of an employment prospect.
As they walked together, Sithole would insist that he knows a short cut, leading the woman to walk into isolated velds where he would violently rape, rob and then murder them.
In about just 18 months, he is believed to have killed 72 women, making Sithole one of the country's most prolific serial killers.
He was eventually convicted of 38 murders, 40 rapes and six robberies, all which he committed in broad daylight between 1994 and 1995, and all while sober and not under any substances.
Now, a new documentary series, aptly titled 'The ABC Killer', is set to chronicle Sithole's reign of terror, from his first initial murder, all the way up until his being sentenced to 2 410 years in prison.
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The three-part series is the work of director Jasyn Howers, who brought viewers the award-winning 'Boetie Boer.'
One of the most powerful aspects of the Showmax Original, which is set to premiere on July 22, is the first-hand accounts from Tamsen de Beer, a rookie journalist at "The Star" newspaper at the time, who received calls from Sithole regarding his murder spree.
Her meticulous research involving diary entries as well as transcripts from her phone conversations with Sithole, and intimate letters to clinical psychologist Dr Giada Del Fabbro, are also showcased.
'The ABC Killer' also features an anonymous inmate's video interview with Sithole, as well as official archival footage of his 1995 police questioning.
Howes, in a similar fashion to "Boetie Boer", employs extensive re-enactments filmed at real-world locations integral to Sithole's story, including "The Star" newspaper headquarters and the Pretoria High Court.
Meanwhile, Gifter Ngobenisen portrays Sithole, Louise van der Merwe steps into the role of De Beer and Graham Hopkins rounds off the cast as Judge George Curlewis.
Howes explained during an interview with 'Independent Media Lifestyle' that 'The ABC Killer' was a natural progression from 'Boetie Boer'.
'I was doing research for that documentary when I came across Tamsen living in Cape Town,' he explained.
Tamsen de Beer in 'The ABC Killer'.
Image: Supplied
'I wanted to feature her in 'Boetie Boer' but I realised that she had her own story to tell.'
Howes said that after doing his research and spending time with De Beer, he was determined for her to be one of the key individuals guiding this narrative and that he wanted this story to be told in a way in which it has never been portrayed before.
'One thing that has always stuck with me with this story is that if the Rugby World Cup in 1995 was Mandela's opportunity to unite a country behind a common cause, this case was also the same opportunity for a a fairly newly established SA Police Service who came together across racial lines to prove that they were there to serve the people of this country and not the select few.'
'There were also very interesting things which were happening with the forensic science departments at that time, and this case put South Africa on the map in a big way.'
Meanwhile, Howes also admitted that putting together a project of such magnitude was not without its challenges.
'When you are looking back 30 years, you have a tall task trying to find people from so long ago who you hope are still alive and that they still remember the details.'
He added, 'I was of the assumption that it would be quite easy to get the dockets for the case files that were linked to all the different murders, but it wasn't actually that simple because the information was scattered all over the place .'
'It is not easy, but when you see the final product and hopefully audiences respond to it all well, it will make it all worth it.'
Howes also believes that there are many things about 'The ABC Killer' which viewers will be able to relate to as well as be fascinated by.
'One of the things that surprised me the most was that Moses was brazen and his murders were not religiously motivated, he wasn't on drugs and he was a very cool and calculated human being who in this particular time in SA's history, was motivated largely by a distaste he had for women.'
'It is an interesting reflection of the dynamics between men and women at a point in South Africa's history where you had a largely black community who had not had freedom of movement prior to 94 and then all of a sudden, they were free to move to the big cities and to seek opportunities and Moses preyed.'
'I think they will also be interested in how the story plays out, how Moses was able to kill so many people in such a short amount of time and why he decided to engage with the most newspaper at the time to make his presence known and to almost laugh at the police and say that they didn't know what they were doing.'
Howes concluded: 'This guy is unique, we never really had a killer like this in South Africa before then and since then.'
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