SOUTH Africa’s North West police have arrested a 38-year-old suspected serial rapist, who is believed to have used Facebook to lure more than 15 Shona speaking Zimbabwean women who were looking for jobs.
Spokesperson Colonel Adele Myburgh said the man was arrested last Tuesday after police received information about his whereabouts. The man allegedly lured his victims by advertising jobs on social media, mainly Facebook, and targeting Shona-speaking Zimbabwean women.
According to Myburgh, the arrest was carried out by a Provincial Task Team made up of units from Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offices (FCS), Crime Intelligence, Organised Crime Investigation, Crime Combatting, and the Tracking Team.
Myburgh said one of the cases was reported in Potchefstroom on September 9 2021. “A 27-year-old woman, who was allegedly scheduled to meet a lady who promised her a job via WhatsApp, arrived at a shopping centre close to the taxi rank in Potchefstroom,” she said.
“The woman, who was from Johannesburg, met with a man as arranged by the lady she had been communicating with. She and the man boarded a taxi and alighted at Extension 11, Ikageng. “The man allegedly took the woman to a bushy and secluded place next to the N12, where she was ultimately overpowered, strangled, raped and robbed of her personal property.”
Myburgh said the man was arrested following an investigation that a serial rapist was active in the Potchefstroom, Ikageng and Klerksdorp areas. More than 15 rapes, all with the same modus operandi, had been reported between September 2021 and October 2022.
She said information gathered by the task team led police to a house in Alabama, close to Klerksdorp, where the suspect was arrested. He was found with a knife and various cellphone sim cards, which police seized.
“The team then proceeded to the suspect’s residence in Jouberton, Extension 11, where 11 bags full of ladies’ clothes (suspected to be belonging to victims) and eight cellphones were found. “More sim cards were also seized,” Myburgh said.
The man was charged with several charges of kidnapping, rape, and robbery. He appeared in the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Court on Thursday and will be held in custody until his next court appearance on November 1. Police have requested anyone with information that could assist in the investigation and identifying possible victims to contact them.
North West police commissioner Lieutenant General Sello Kwena congratulated the task team and said police would continue to work hard to ensure gender-based violence cases were prioritised. According to Myburgh, they were also looking for the woman who was used by the alleged rapist in one of the crimes. — News24