Middelburg has a rape crisis.

This was highlighted last Saturday evening when an alleged sex worker was raped by two men.

According to reports, the woman was standing on Boncker Street waiting for clients when a white Toyota Quantum flashed his lights at her.

The victim talked to the taxi driver, who asked about the cost of her services. She told the man she charged R100. After accepting the fee, the man motioned for the woman to get into his vehicle. She directed the driver to her rented room in the downtown area, near 4SAI.

The man said he was avoiding large crowds, he then drove out into the bushes and towards the old Belfast road. The woman discovered there was a second person in the taxi when the man unexpectedly grabbed her neck.

She was raped by the two men and physically assaulted. The Middelburg Observer has shed light on a chilling reality over the years.

A string of rape cases remain unresolved, leaving survivors without justice and a community in fear.

Here’s a timeline of incidents since 2018:

Outraged Komati residents take to the streets

June 2023

Angry Komati residents staged a protest after Lungile Ntuli (26) was killed and brutally raped. Lungile’s body was found on June 17, 2023, by a tactical response team patrolling the area.

When the police arrived at the scene, her lower body was naked, a black cloth had been placed over her face, and her legs were spread apart. Dry grass had been placed on her face.

Multiple used tissues, suspected to contain semen, were discovered near the body, along with several discarded condoms scattered in the vicinity. The day before her murder, Lungile was spotted outside a tavern in Komati with a man.

READ MORE: Rape victim talks about horror night

Where were the police?

June 2022

An unknown woman was raped near the AGS Familia Dei Church.

The woman was found sitting on the pavement by a passerby and said she had been raped on SADC Street.

The police were reportedly switching shifts, and no one attended to the incident. Sadly, a rape case was not opened.

READ MORE: Police seeking two men to help with rape case investigations

Traumatised after rape ordeal

March 2022

A mother from Hlalamnandi was devastated after she heard her 18-year-old daughter had been raped.

The distressed mother spoke to the Middelburg Observer about the incident, saying her daughter was raped by her ex-boyfriend.

The victim told her mother that she had broken up with her boyfriend earlier that day.

The suspect drove to the victim’s home after the breakup and asked if he could talk to her.

The victim met with the suspect outside her house. Her ex-boyfriend was inside his car at the time and asked the victim to talk to

her. After the girl entered the car, her ex-boyfriend locked the car and drove away.

READ MORE: Escalating number of rapes of minors

The young girl tried to open the door as the suspect drove towards the Bethal road. In an attempt to escape, she asked the suspect to stop the car so she could urinate. She then tried to run away; however, the man managed to catch her.

He instructed her to undress while taking a video, which he said would be uploaded online.

After the rape, the suspect said he would kill her and her family if she told anyone about the incident.

A serial rapist on the loose?

March 2021

A woman who was brutally raped by a taxi driver believed that the man and his friend would strike again.

“I am not the only victim! Just a few days after I was raped by the taxi driver, while his friend robbed me, another woman was picked up and raped by a taxi driver and his friend in Kanonkop,” she said in tears. The woman cannot be named because she was a victim of a sexual assault).

She also knows about an incident where a woman’s body was found near a taxi rank in Mhluzi in December.

The woman is convinced that the two men are serial rapists.

READ MORE: Woman allegedly raped in student commune

She was raped and robbed on October 9, 2020, after a taxi driver picked her up in Tokologo (Mhluzi) and drove her to the bushes behind Dennesig.

On November 3, another rape and kidnapping case was opened by a woman.

She claimed she was in the CBD, hitchhiking to Extension 4, when a taxi driver, with another man in the taxi, picked her up and drove to the Kees Taljaard Stadium, where they both raped her.

Woman raped in Chromeville

August 2021

A woman was raped on August 8, 2021, by an unknown man.

At the time, the Mhluzi Police said the complainant and the suspect were at a tavern in Extension 8 when the suspect offered to give her a lift home.

READ MORE: BREAKING: Two elderly women brutally beaten and raped on N4

Instead of driving the woman home, the suspect drove to a guest house in Chromeville.

He then proceeded to strangle her, threaten her with a firearm, and rape her.

Another woman has been raped in Mhluzi

September 2021

On September 26, a 42-year-old woman in Extension 4, Mhluzi, was sexually assaulted by an unidentified man.

The complainant told the police that at approximately 4:30, a young man approached her while she was on her way to her sister’s house.

READ MORE: Noodkreet na verkragting

After pulling out a knife, the suspect told the victim to strip. After raping her, he fled.

Girl raped in school toilets

April 2021

A 19-year-old girl was raped in the Sozama Secondary School toilets by an unknown man.

The victim told the Mhluzi police that she saw a man wearing a blue overall and a black cap near the girls’ toilets.

Thinking nothing of it, she went into the restroom.

The suspect attacked the girl, covered her face with a cloth, and then proceeded to rape her.

Rape victims left exposed

May 2021

Lauren Myuswa, a rape victim, was devastated after learning that the case against her alleged attacker was been withdrawn due to a reported lack of evidence, despite the presence of significant evidence, including a gun used to threaten her, DNA evidence, a doctor’s report documenting her injuries, and witness testimonies from friends and housemates.

Myuswa was allegedly abducted at gunpoint on May 30, and raped multiple times. She managed to alert her friend, who contacted the police.

The suspect was arrested, but he has since been released, leaving Myuswa living in fear of his return.

Frustrated and seeking justice, she shared her story publicly, revealing her identity in hopes of finding answers and holding her

attacker accountable.

Rape horror in Mhluzi

Oct 2020

The grandmother of an 11-year-old girl told the police that her neighbour informed her that her granddaughter had been raped by one of their neighbours.

The incident happened in Extension 4.

Another 11-year-old girl was reportedly raped over two years by her father’s friend in Newtown.

A family member reported the matter to the Mhluzi police.

The complainant told the police that the accused threatened to physically assault the 11-year-old girl if she told anyone about the sexual abuse.

Woman raped, kidnapped

November 2020

On November 3, a victim was raped by two men at about 19:00.

The victim told the police that she was in the CBD hitchhiking to Extension 4, Mhluzi, when a taxi stopped to offer her a lift.

The taxi driver was travelling with another man and drove to Kees Taljaard Stadium, where they both raped the woman.

The men drove to two different houses in Mhluzi, where they proceeded to rape her throughout the night.

The victim said the men dropped her off in the middle of the road in Mhluzi.

Weekend of rape horror

February 2019
• A mentally ill 25-year-old woman was raped in Doornkop.

The woman said she went to a spaza shop to purchase milk; the suspect took her into a back room where he forced her to undress; he then raped her and afterwards gave her R50.

• A seven-year-old girl was allegedly raped in Arnot. The girl’s mother said her daughter was playing in the street when the incident occurred.

The little girl noticed that her shoe was missing and told her mother that it had been taken by an unknown man.

The man told the seven-year-old that she needed to go into his house to get the shoe. When the girl went into the house, the man raped her.

• A 15-year-old girl says she was raped by an unknown man in Nasaret.

The girl told the police that she and her friends were walking past a group of men who asked if they could talk to them.

One of the men requested the 15-year-old’s cellphone number; he then asked her to accompany him to his house, where he dragged her into his bedroom and raped her.

SAPS search for rapists of minors

December 2019

An 11-year-old girl was raped on her way home from church.

Mhluzi police spokesperson Sergeant Thabitha Leshilo said the incident occurred on December 4.

The girl’s mother told the police that her daughter was walking home from church in Mhluzi when two men chased her.

One of the suspects allegedly raped the girl, while the other suspect covered her mouth with his hand so the victim couldn’t scream.


Teenage boys involved in gang rape

October 2019
On October 8, Mhluzi police received information that a 13-year-old girl was raped by a 56-year-old man in Extension 5.

Mhluzi police spokesperson Sergeant Thabitha Leshilo said the teenager stated that the 56-year-old forced her into his home and then raped her.

• On October 20, a 14-year-old Newtown girl told the police that she was gang-raped by three boys.

The ages of the suspects ranged from 13 and 15 years old.

Leshilo said the boys were arrested.

Girl raped near graveyard

August 2018

On August 2, 2018, another rape case was opened with the Mhluzi police.

The case was filed by a mother after her daughter was raped by a man while walking home.

The man forced the girl into a deserted mountainous area where he raped her at knifepoint.

The girl’s mother told the police how her daughter arrived home in tears, and when her mother asked her what was wrong, she told her that she had been raped.

The pair went to the police station to report the matter.

Rape warning

September 2018

The SAPS in Mhluzi cautioned women not to walk alone at night after two rape cases were opened.

On September 9, a woman told the police that she was raped at knifepoint by an unknown man behind the Themba Senamela

Stadium at about 20:50.

Another case was opened, where a woman was robbed and raped behind Manyano Primary School at knifepoint by an unknown man.

Minor’s 11-hour rape ordeal

December 2018

A 14-year-old girl was repeatedly raped in Newtown.

The young girl said she was on her way home from a friend’s house at about 22:00 when an unknown man grabbed her.

He then dragged her into nearby bushes and forced her to undress.

The suspect allegedly raped her at knifepoint until the next morning.

After brutally raping her, he took the young victim to a nearby river where he forced her to bathe and then continued to rape her.