A manhunt has been launched as fears that a serial killer is on the loose have mounted in Mdantsane after two bodies were retrieved at the bottom of a cliff in Daluxolo informal settlement.
Cambridge police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said earlier today that a reinforced team of multi-unit police, including the Airwing and K9 Search and Rescue units, is combing a bushy area at Mdantsane's NU 6.
Social Development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi, who condemned the incident, will visit the community today, her spokesman Mzukisi Solani said.
The gruesome discovery was made yesterday when members of the community were chasing an alleged rapist following screams from a high school pupil.
The women are believed to have been abducted and raped before being dumped in the thicket.
Cambridge police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said the 14-year-old victim who escaped from the suspect, had opened a case of rape. “She has been taken to the Thuthuzela Centre where she is receiving counselling from a team of highly-trained psychologists. The state doctors will also examine her for evidence.”
Members of the community last night claimed two more bodies had been discovered but Mbi could only confirm the discovery of two decomposed bodies but didn’t rule out the possibility of more bodies.
He said a postmortem would be conducted to establish the cause of the deaths. The bodies have not yet been identified.
“The police are still at the scene so we won’t rule out the possibility of more bodies but at this stage we can’t confirm.”
Police said last night two murder dockets had been opened.
The half-naked body of a young woman believed to be a school pupil, with a stab wound to the neck, was lying next to the body of another woman thought to be a security guard. Eyewitnesses said the women’s security guard uniform was lying next to her naked body.
Earlier, the rape suspect fled on foot into the thick bushes in a creek a few metres from Daluxolo informal settlement after allegedly attacking the pupil in school uniform inside an unfinished RDP house. The area has several unfinished RDP houses.
Hundreds of angry community members who gathered at the top of the cliff watching police retrieve the bodies, blamed the abandoned RDP project of 2014 for a series of rapes in the area.
Ward 11 committee member Ntombiyakhe Sambane, 40, said four women had been raped since the project of 88 low-cost houses was abandoned in 2015.
“The unfinished houses are used as crime dens by the criminals. We have been pleading with BCM to complete this project or demolish these walls.”
Sambane said three young women were raped at gunpoint in 2015 by one man. An eight-year-old girl was also raped in the same area in February this year.
“We heard the screams of the pupil and when we went to investigate, we saw a young man fleeing on foot down the hill.”
Zanyiwe Jekwa, 42, said the area had never experienced any form of crime since the settlement’s inception in 1992 until the RDP project.
One of the community members who pursued the suspect was Xolisa Nokoyo, a motor mechanic who was busy working on a car when he heard the screams.
“A woman who was comforting the child told me she was raped and then I ran down the hill looking for the suspect.
“I found the suspect at the bottom of the creek where he drew a knife on me so I drew my size 10 spanner which was in the back pocket of my overall.”
Nokoyo said when he charged at the suspect with the spanner, he fled on foot into a thicket.
“While chasing him, I came across the body of a half-naked girl wearing uniform near a stream. I stopped the chase and when I turned back, some of the guys helping me in the chase told me that they had just seen another body of a security guard.”
Mzoleli Kobe said he was taking a child from school when he made the gruesome discovery. “If the police could comb the bushes with dogs I am sure more bodies can be discovered there.”
Resident Nombulelo Nkangeni described the alleged serial rapist as a man who usually wears black pants, red T-shirt and white sneakers.
Serial killer fear as bodies found- Group chasing rape suspect make a gruesome discovery
Cambridge police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said earlier today that a reinforced team of multi-unit police, including the Airwing and K9 Search and Rescue units, is combing a bushy area at Mdantsane's NU 6.
Social Development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi, who condemned the incident, will visit the community today, her spokesman Mzukisi Solani said.
The gruesome discovery was made yesterday when members of the community were chasing an alleged rapist following screams from a high school pupil.
The women are believed to have been abducted and raped before being dumped in the thicket.
Cambridge police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said the 14-year-old victim who escaped from the suspect, had opened a case of rape. “She has been taken to the Thuthuzela Centre where she is receiving counselling from a team of highly-trained psychologists. The state doctors will also examine her for evidence.”
Members of the community last night claimed two more bodies had been discovered but Mbi could only confirm the discovery of two decomposed bodies but didn’t rule out the possibility of more bodies.
He said a postmortem would be conducted to establish the cause of the deaths. The bodies have not yet been identified.
“The police are still at the scene so we won’t rule out the possibility of more bodies but at this stage we can’t confirm.”
Police said last night two murder dockets had been opened.
The half-naked body of a young woman believed to be a school pupil, with a stab wound to the neck, was lying next to the body of another woman thought to be a security guard. Eyewitnesses said the women’s security guard uniform was lying next to her naked body.
Earlier, the rape suspect fled on foot into the thick bushes in a creek a few metres from Daluxolo informal settlement after allegedly attacking the pupil in school uniform inside an unfinished RDP house. The area has several unfinished RDP houses.
Hundreds of angry community members who gathered at the top of the cliff watching police retrieve the bodies, blamed the abandoned RDP project of 2014 for a series of rapes in the area.
Ward 11 committee member Ntombiyakhe Sambane, 40, said four women had been raped since the project of 88 low-cost houses was abandoned in 2015.
“The unfinished houses are used as crime dens by the criminals. We have been pleading with BCM to complete this project or demolish these walls.”
Sambane said three young women were raped at gunpoint in 2015 by one man. An eight-year-old girl was also raped in the same area in February this year.
“We heard the screams of the pupil and when we went to investigate, we saw a young man fleeing on foot down the hill.”
Zanyiwe Jekwa, 42, said the area had never experienced any form of crime since the settlement’s inception in 1992 until the RDP project.
One of the community members who pursued the suspect was Xolisa Nokoyo, a motor mechanic who was busy working on a car when he heard the screams.
“A woman who was comforting the child told me she was raped and then I ran down the hill looking for the suspect.
“I found the suspect at the bottom of the creek where he drew a knife on me so I drew my size 10 spanner which was in the back pocket of my overall.”
Nokoyo said when he charged at the suspect with the spanner, he fled on foot into a thicket.
“While chasing him, I came across the body of a half-naked girl wearing uniform near a stream. I stopped the chase and when I turned back, some of the guys helping me in the chase told me that they had just seen another body of a security guard.”
Mzoleli Kobe said he was taking a child from school when he made the gruesome discovery. “If the police could comb the bushes with dogs I am sure more bodies can be discovered there.”
Resident Nombulelo Nkangeni described the alleged serial rapist as a man who usually wears black pants, red T-shirt and white sneakers.
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