POLICE in Phalaborwa arrested a man (45) on Friday, 21 April after he was positively linked to nine cases of rape in which a similar modus operandi was used.
Limpopo acting police commissioner Major-General Jan Scheepers has welcomed the arrest of the suspect believed to be behind a string of rape cases reported between 2017 and 2021 in Namakgale and Lulekani areas outside Phalaborwa.
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The suspect has been terrorising residents in Matjetje and Makhushane areas, and raping females between the ages of 15 and 36.
It’s alleged that he would prey on women walking at night with male companions, threaten them with a knife and force them into the bushes where he'd rape the women.
The suspect was first arrested in 2012 after he allegedly raped a woman (23) in Makhushane Village. The victim was walking alone at night when she was attacked at knifepoint by the suspect.
The court then referred the man to undergo mental assessment. He was later released after the court ruled that he had mental illness.
The suspect committed another rape in 2019 and was unknown at the time until being linked through DNA evidence and became a person of interest who was ultimately linked to the nine cases.
The suspect's luck ran out when police pounced on him at his workplace in Namakgale on Friday.
Police investigations are underway to establish whether the suspect could be linked to more similar crimes.
The suspect will appear in the Namakgale Magistrates Court on Monday, 24 April.
