Man Targeting Shona-Speaking Zim Women For Rape Ar...

Man Targeting Shona-Speaking Zim Women For Rape Arrested In SA

Three women, two girls raped in Harare | The Herald

Eddie Zvinonzwa

South African Police Service in the North West have arrested a 38-year-old suspected serial rapist who is alleged to have targeted Shona-speaking Zimbabwean women.

Police say they found 11 bags full of women’s clothes when they arrested the man, who allegedly used social media, particularly Facebook, to lure the women by advertising jobs.

Police spokesperson Colonel Adele Myburgh said they received information about his whereabouts and arrested him on Tuesday.

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.

The police spokesperson 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 suspect was arrested following information 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.

The information gathered by the task team, she said, led police to a house in Alabama, close to Klerksdorp, where the suspect was arrested.

Myburg added that the man 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 belong to victims - and eight cellphones were found.

The suspect was charged with several counts of kidnapping, rape, and robbery when he appeared in the Potchefstroom Magistrate’s Friday, October 21. He was remanded in custody and is due to return to court on November 1.

Police, according to Myburgh, were also looking for the woman who was used by the alleged rapist in one of the crimes.

North West police commissioner Lieutenant-General Sello Kwena congratulated the task team and said police will continue to work hard to ensure gender-based violence cases are prioritised.