The lone survivor in a shootout between police officers and alleged robbers, which left nine people dead, faces a rape charge in a separate incident.

The man, who can no longer be named until he pleads to the rape charge, appeared in the Durban magistrate’s court on Tuesday, when prosecutor Surekha Ramoutar told the court he had a warrant for his arrest relating to a rape that occurred in Eshowe, northern KwaZulu-Natal.

“There is a charge of rape in Eshowe that we need to get information on,” said Ramoutar.

The man was arrested last Sunday in Isipingo, south of Durban, after police clashed with 10 gunmen who are alleged to have been in the process of committing a robbery.

Ramoutar said the man would be taken to Eshowe as soon as the investigating officer in the Durban matter made contact with his Eshowe counterpart. She asked that the matter be adjourned for seven days as the Eshowe matter would affect how the state went forward with opposing  bail.

The man’s lawyer, Sibusiso Zulu, argued that his client's bail application was urgent and that the investigation could be conducted while he is out on bail.

“What do you have to say about your client's outstanding matter in Eshowe?'' asked magistrate Vanitha Armu.

After taking instructions, Zulu said his client had fled Eshowe after he was threatened, and that he had assumed the matter had been withdrawn.

Ramoutar told the court the man would be charged with nine counts of murder in his relation to his alleged accomplices as he acted in common cause with them.

The matter will be back in court on October 8.