HAZYVIEW – The two men suspected of having raped two female guests at Tatenda Guest House two weeks ago, were finally apprehended on Thursday.
Their arrest follows a robbery which occurred at Kruger Park Lodge shortly after 01:00 on the same day.
The armed criminals gained access to one of the lodge’s chalets by climbing through an open bedroom window.
Without waking the sleeping guests, they stole items to the value of R64 100 and R13 800 in cash. These included wristwatches, cellphones, cameras, chequebooks and bank cards.
The suspects then continued their looting spree by moving on to a neighbouring chalet occupied by three female guests.
Once again they entered through an open window but this time it was that of the kitchen. They woke two of the women and held them at gunpoint and proceeded to steal items totalling R47 250 in value and R1 300 in cash.
The third woman was in another bedroom and realised what was happening. She immediately contacted the resort’s reception via her cellphone. Spes-Plan Security, SAPS and the resort manager were immediately called to assist. In the meantime the criminals had fled across the Sabie River.
“What the robbers did not know was that one of the stolen iPhones was traceable,” said
Ms Leslie Hibbert, managing director Spes-Plan. “Mr Daniel de Waal of Spes-Plan traced it on an iPad which revealed that the suspects had by then also crossed Marite River and were heading towards the Marite and Madras villages.
De Waal and four Spes-Plan members went to a footpath in the hills south of Madras Village. There they waited for an hour and a half before they heard two men come up the path.
They were clearly the thieves as they were openly chatting about the robbery at the lodge. When the suspects were a metre away from the team, De Waal fired two shots into the ground and shone his torch at the robbers.
They tried to flee but he tackled one of them while on ops team member managed to grab the other.
A fist fight ensued between the second suspect and the Spes-Plan member which resulted in both of them rolling down an embankment and landing up in a stream. The criminal managed to break free and escape.
With one suspect caught, Spes-Plan collected the stolen items that had been dropped by the men and returned to the lodge.
Once there, the man pointed out where he and his accomplice had crossed the river after the burglary.
He also provided the name of the accomplice and agreed to point out his home.
“De Waal informed the SAPS of the events which had unfolded and the police then met the Spes-Plan team at our office,” continued Hibbert. “It was at this point that the suspect freely admitted that he and his gang were responsible for the armed robberies in the area and the rapes which took place at Tatenda Guest House.”
Various follow-up operations were undertaken by the SAPS in conjunction with security companies.
Due to information which the police had received, the second suspect was arrested and found to be in possession of suspected stolen items.
The apprehended men allegdly continued to confess to their numerous crimes which included the rape of two Gauteng women, one of them pregnant, at Tatenda two weeks ago, a robbery at Blue Jay Lodge on April 8, another armed burglary at Tatenda Guest House on June 30, an attempted break-in at Kruger Park Lodge on Wednesday, burglaries at two private homes and a robbery going back as far as 2008.
In this incident they broke into a house occupied by a single woman, whom they held at gunpoint while stealing electronic equipment and other items before fleeing.
It is important to note that neither of the suspects confessed to the armed robbery at Aan de Vliet Resort on Thursday October 3.
SAPS are investigating other criminal activities related to the arrested suspects and it is believed that they are part of a gang operating in groups in Hazyview.
“Though the robberies in Hazyview remain a cause for concern,” says provincial commissioner Gen Thulani Ntobela, “it must be borne in mind that the SAPS are doing everything in their power to counter and stabilise criminal activities in the province.” The suspects appeared in the White River Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The outcome was not known at the time of going to press.
