17 more suspects arrested in connection to Krugersdorp rape, robbery

Seventeen more suspects have been arrested following the rape of eight women in West Village, Krugersdorp.

On Friday, the South African Police Service (Saps) officers had arrested 67 people – including two suspects who were fatally shot.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, Westrand District Commisioner, Fred Kekana confirmed that the latest arrests brings the total number to 84 suspects, some who are foreign nationals.

ALSO READ: Parliament fully behind ‘overdue’ DNA Bill

“We managed to arrest 17 more [suspects]. Four of them are Basotho nationals, four Zimbabweans, seven Mozambicans, one is a Cameroonian and one is Malawian,” he told Newzroom Afrika.

Although some suspects were nabbed for contravening the Immigration Act, Kekana explained that DNA tests would be carried out in order to identify those linked to the rape and robbery of the production crew in Krugersdorp.

“Amongst others, it’s illegal mining and undocumented persons so those charges are already standing. The only thing left is linkages [to the crime committed] which we are still busy with,” he said.

The incident took place on Thursday night, where eight victims were allegedly raped by the suspects.

“It was 22 people; 12 women and 10 men. Two hours after they had arrived the men attacked them and when they tried to run away, they shot at them and forced them to sleep down.

“And then 10 other similar men came and they started to rape them, eight women were raped, I have the names here but I’m not going to give the names here of those women,” Police Minister Bheki Cele said on Friday.

READ MORE: GBV: Being a woman in South Africa is a struggle

The minister revealed that three of the women were gang raped, one was raped by 10 men “simultaneously, exchanging on her”, another by eight and the last one by six.

It was believed that they robbed all the victims of their clothes, cellphones, rings, passports, watches, handbags, cash, camera and other valuables to the value of at least R1.5 million.

‘Gross incompetence’

The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has since called for other communities with abandoned mines such as Klerksdorp and Carletonville to be prioritised.

“SANDF, Special Task Forces must be deployed to those communities where illegal miners seek refuge underground after committing such heinous crimes,” the party said in a statement.

The ATM has also urged government to address the issue of illegal firearms across the country.

READ MORE: Nkoana-Mashabane decries ‘barbaric’ violence that SA’s women and children face

Meanwhile, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said women in South Africa were on their own because of the “gross incompetence of the entire justice system”.

“The victims of this barbaric crime in Krugersdorp have now joined a long list of other women who have been terribly failed by the state.

“Between January and March this year, there were 13,799 reported cases of sexual assault in the country, and out of this number, 10,818 were cases of rape. The low numbers of GBVF perpetrators who ever experience a police cell, [let] alone a court room, remains sickening,” the party said.