Cops launch manhunt for suspec

Cops launch manhunt for suspected Kuils River rapists

If you recognise the two suspects depicted in the images, kindly contact Warrant Officer Izak Gordon.

Cops launch manhunt for suspec

The Kuils River Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit has issued identikits of two men wanted on charges of abduction, robbery and rape.

According to the Cape Argus, this comes after a woman, 23, was brutally abducted, robbed of her belongings and raped in a minibus taxi in September 2019 by its driver and accomplice.

Details of the horrific ordeal

As reported earlier by the Weekend Argus, the woman’s identity is being withheld but she told the newspaper; “we were separated in the taxi, my friend was forced to sit in front with the driver and I was in the back with the ‘gaatjie.’ They demanded our cellphones and jewellery and any cash we had. They also took my bank card.”

They eventually stopped at Vangate Mall, where the woman’s friend was forced to accompany the driver to an ATM. This was when the gaatjie demanded that she remove her pants in the taxi. She refused and he pulled her by her hair, removed his pants as well as hers, and raped her.

“I just went blank. I do not know how long it lasted, I just know it took a long time,” she said.

Toyota Quantum recovered, gutted by flames

It is believed that the suspects dropped her and her friend in Voortrekker road and fled the scene in a white Toyota Quantum with the registration number CF42604. The vehicle was then discovered burnt out late October, after it had been reported stolen.

One of the suspects’ identikit was compiled with the help of the victim, and the image, depicting who is said to be the driver, was captured with surveillance footage where the suspect used the ATM.

“The driver even suggested that the four of us go play slot machines at Grand West,” she recalled. “He gave us R100 for taxi fare and even apologised for what he did, saying he did not have a choice,” she said.

She said she is now very fearful. The reality is that she has to take a taxi twice a day. She doesn’t have a choice. “In the morning it’s okay, but in the afternoon I just start shaking,” she said.

Shocking similarities

The Cape Argus reported that a similar incident occurred in the same month, when a taxi driver was captured by private security guards after he allegedly raped a female passenger for ten hours in his taxi. The traumatised woman said the suspect beat her up before raping her and she thought he was going to kill her.

Her terrifying ordeal came to an end when the suspect could not maintain his erection and the enraged man threw her out of the Toyota Quantum near Spier Wine Farm in Stellenbosch.

How you can help

If you recognise the two suspects depicted in the images, kindly contact Warrant Officer Izak Gordon of the Kuils Rivier FCS on 0825221047. Alternatively, Crime Stop can also be contacted on 08600 10111.