Police Minister Bheki Cele says three suspects, who are foreign nationals, have been arrested in connection with the gang rape of eight young women during a music video shoot in West Village, Krugersdorp, on Thursday.
Police are investigating cases of rape and armed robbery. The production company was attacked by a group of men during the video shoot and robbed of their belongings.
Speaking at a media conference outside the African National Congress’s (ANC) policy conference at Nasrec in Johannesburg, Cele says the suspects are believed to be foreign nationals who are mining illegally.
He says, “Eight women were raped, one woman was raped by 10 men exchanging on her, the other one was raped by eight men and another was raped by six they were ranging between 19 and 35 years. All the women were robbed, some of the suspects have been arrested and police were instructed that they can’t come back without them in whatever form.”
GBV under spotlight:
Scourge of gender-based violence
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has reacted to the brutal rapes, urging delegates at the party’s Policy Conference to emphatically deal with the scourge of gender-based violence.
Ramaphosa says he instructed Police Minister to leave no stone unturned in bringing to book all the suspects who abuse women.
“A significant challenge facing our country today is crime and violence. Communities across the country live in fear. They are worried about crime, gangsterism, rape and murder. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the violence perpetrated against them by men. We have directed the Minister of Police and law enforcement agencies to immediately embark on this to make sure that the perpetrators are apprehended and dealt with.”
