The path of a predator

POLOKWANE – Crudely handmade objects thought to depict male sex organs were discovered in the veld behind a residential estate in lower De Wet Drive, near Diemeer Street in Bendor last Thursday.

The discovery was made by some builders doing repairs on the wall of the residential estate.
The phallic objects were made from stones and wrapped up with magazine pictures of women and children, and pieces of plastic.
It was in the veld where this discovery was made, that several women using the veld as a shortcut came face to face with a strange man who looked to be in his 40’s. The man was reported to have appeared out of the long grass and come up to them, saying he was going to rape them. In one instance, the man also pulled down his pants and then tried to run after a woman as she fled.
Ouma Moloi was one of the women who said she was approached by the man recently. She said the man was dressed in blue overalls and she had seen him in the veld many times when she walked there.

“It was just like all the other days; I saw the man and greeted him and he looked at me in a strange way. But later he approached me as I was waiting for a taxi and said he wanted to rape me. I swore at him and started walking away, but he followed me repeating his words. I kept on walking until a taxi stopped for me, and I left,” Moloi said.

Review went to the site where the objects were found, accompanied by Freddy Maubane, a retired police official, who used to be attached to a specialist unit in the police and is now a private investigator.

Many of the pictures of the women used to wrap the stones in were taken from local newspapers and included the names and contact details of the women as they were local estate agents in the city.
According to Maubane, the find indicated that the person responsible for creating the objects had possibly had a mental breakdown and was fantasising about women and what he wanted to do with them. He added that the man would be a loner.

“This man believes that he is the ideal man for each of these women and with the items he created, he believes he will be able to please them in ways that no other man can.
“There is also evidence that this man is planning to hurt the women with these items. He spends his days planning every item he makes and there is evidence that he is trying to perfect the item he makes,” Maubane, who is also an experienced profiler, said.

Maubane said he believed that the man was a sexual predator and was looking for a victim.
While the evidence suggests that this man’s target is women between the ages of 30 and 40 years, the children’s pictures also speak of pedophilia. “I do not believe the man has done anything yet, but I am sure that it is only a matter of time before he takes action,” Maubane said.
Maubane said he could not positively connect the incidents that the women had reported with what had been found, but said it was highly unlikely that two sexual predators would operate in the same area.
He urged people, especially women and children to stay away from the veld, and to report any incidents to the police immediately. He added that it was possible that the man would move from the field as his belongings had been disturbed, but people should still be cautious.
According to a member of the community policing forum in the area, the items found could also be made with the intention to use them as a message for criminals marking specific estate agents’ houses as easy targets for burglaries.
Polokwane police spokesperson, WO Lesiba Ramoshaba, said the police would patrol the area more frequently.
He also said the police could not act until there was actual evidence that a crime had been committed, and residents should make sure to report any suspicious activities in the area.