Suspected serial rapist potentially linked to 100 victims
Penelope Masilela The case of the man believed to be the notorious Ekurhuleni serial rapist, who the police have been hunting for nearly nine years, was postponed to May 27 in absentia in the Daveyton Magistrate's Court on April 29.
The suspect was not in court as he remains under police guard in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound inflicted when he tried to evade arrest in Barcelona, Etwatwa, on March 17.
Last month, the police condemned the sharing of a video on social media depicting a man, who the public believed to be the serial rapist, who appeared to be injured and in handcuffs.
The police stated it was irresponsible for people to be sharing the video and making these claims as it was, at that stage, not confirmed via DNA if he was the man the police were hunting.
The police believe the latest victim of the rapist was a Crystal Park woman, who was raped in February. Shortly after this incident, the officers offered a reward of an undisclosed amount for information that could lead to his arrest and prosecution.
Linked
The police have confirmed that DNA tests link the suspect to about 60 rapes in Ekurhuleni, some dating back as far as 2012. The women were between the ages of 12 and 40.
National SAPS spokesperson Brig Vish Naidoo said following his arrest, a DNA report linked the suspect to these cases in various policing precincts, including Batho, Crystal Park, Daveyton, Etwatwa and Putfontein.
“Since his arrest, several victims have come forward with additional information to assist the team’s investigations. “While the team is still hard at work in analysing the suspect’s modus operandi through the police’s Investigative Psychology Section, the possibility of linking the suspect to additional cases cannot be ruled out at this stage. “With the inclusion of the analysis of the modus operandi, the suspect could be linked to about 40 other cases, bringing the total number of cases to nearly 100.”
Naidoo said the suspect was successfully arrested through the collaboration of a multi-disciplinary task team comprising various components within the SAPS, led by the Gauteng Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations detectives.
Persistent
The task team also included the National Investigative Psychology Section, the National Forensic Sciences Laboratory Biology Section and the Victim Identification Centre. This team was established in April 2018 and also included the assistance of external role players.
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National police commissioner Gen Khehla John Sithole said the successful apprehension and connection of the suspect to these cases is the result of the persistent efforts by all involved.
“We applaud and commend the multi-disciplinary team involved for their unrelenting spirit in putting a stop to the reign of terror that this suspect has subjected women too,” said Sithole. “The team has indeed displayed and deployed their meticulous investigation and analysis skills. We hope that this case will bring hope to many victims. “We also hope the communities we serve will appreciate our endeavours in the fight against sexual crimes and work with our members to apprehend more of these criminals.”
Social media warning
Commenting after the video of the alleged serial rapist went viral, Gauteng SAPS spokesperson Brig Mathapelo Peters said the police did caution members of the public, particularly social media users, against the dangers of circulating images of alleged suspects before those suspects appear in court.
“Due to this reckless practice, which achieves nothing other than sensationalism, the hard work of investigators gets nullified as this ultimately compromises procedures such as ID parades and subsequent court proceedings,” said Peters. “This practice inevitably favours the suspect in that the case is jeopardised and the suspect might never face a day in court. At the same time, the actual victim of the crime is left disadvantaged and deprived of justice.”
Peters said section 69 of the South African Police Service Act of 1995 states, “No person may, without the written permission of the national or provincial commissioner, publish a photograph or sketch of a person who is suspected of having committed an offence, pending a decision to institute criminal proceedings against him or her” and, “any person who publishes such a photograph or sketch shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months”
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