The net is closing fast on the Etwatwa serial rapist‚ says Gauteng Community Safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane.

“He can run but he cannot hide. We are now in a strong campaign of making sure that with every victim of rape there is DNA test that is done. If a person is arrested for rape‚ we also investigate if that person is not linked to other rape cases.

“The Etwatwa serial rapist will definitely be arrested soon‚” said Nkosi-Malobane in response to reports that an unidentified male is targeting the Ekurhuleni area.

A total of 25 rape cases linked to the same suspect have been reported at the Benoni police station since October 2016.

A special task team has been set up to track down the suspect.

“Rape must never happen. A person who has experienced rape is as good as a person that is dead because she will live with that challenge forever. My wish is that we prevent rape before it happens‚” said Nkosi-Malobane.

According to her‚ efforts have been doubled to remove sexual offenders from the streets of Gauteng.

“The newly established Family Violence‚ Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit has contributed in making sure that 24 serial rapists in this province just in one year were arrested and prosecuted. I strongly believe that the FCS will get the Etwatwa rapist and he will be sentenced for a long time‚” she said. Etwatwa police station commander Colonel Molotelo Maoto said among the reported cases‚ one victim was raped and killed. The remainder are alive and are assisting investigators with leads.

Maoto said the suspect carefully studies his victims and approaches them under the pretext of being a municipality official offering employment. “We have intensified police visibility in identified hotspots. We urge residents to be extra cautious because the suspect is silently operating among us‚” he said.