Arrests made in KwaZulu-Natal: Two suspected serial sex offenders apprehended
A KwaDukuza man has been arrested more than a decade after one of his crimes as police officers linked multiple rape and robbery cases to him.
The provincial police said offices arrested a 36-year-old man linked to nine cases of rape and robbery that took place between 2013 and 2016 in KwaDukuza, Mandeni, and oThongathi.
According to the police, the suspect and his accomplice targeted women aged between 15 and 37, threatening them with knives before robbing and raping them.
Police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said one of the earliest cases dates back to January 28, 2013, when a 21-year-old woman was walking near a bridge in Darnall and was attacked by two men who dragged her into nearby bushes and raped her.
Another case was reported on March 14, 2013, when a woman and her mother-in-law were raped while walking through a sugarcane field.
Ngcobo stated that the suspect was traced to a forest in KwaDukuza and arrested on October 9.
She said the suspect is expected to appear before the KwaDukuza Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
In an unrelated incident, private security company Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) said its officers arrested a convicted sexual offender in Phoenix on Sunday.
The man, who allegedly posed as a job recruiter, is accused of luring women under the pretext of employment before robbing and assaulting them.
RUSA said the arrest followed a search launched on Friday after two women approached an officer for help. They reported receiving calls from a man claiming to offer them work and arranging a meeting in Westham. The suspect took them to an isolated area near Gandhi Park, where he robbed both victims and sexually assaulted one.
Reaction officers later spotted a man matching the description provided by the victims. He was identified by one of the women and taken into custody.
According to police detectives from the Phoenix Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offences Unit, the suspect is linked to multiple rape cases in Brookdale and Gandhi Park. He was previously imprisoned for sexual assault and robbery and released in May 2025.
Both suspects remain in custody as investigations continue.