South African police arrest 80 for gang rape, robbery

More than 80 men have been arrested in court on charges of gang rapes of eight women and armed robbery of a video production crew in the South African town of Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.

The men were arrested at an abandoned mining site after rapes and robbery near the disused mine.

The suspects are allegedly illegal miners, known as zama-zamas, who dig for gold in the Johannesburg area s many closed mine shafts. According to local reports, many of the miners are foreigners. The zama-zama gangs of illegal miners are also blamed for the widespread crime in the area, according to local people.

A group of gang rapes occurred when a crew filming a music video at one of the abandoned mines was attacked on Thursday by armed men, according to the police.

The police commissioner for Gauteng province, Lt Gen Elias Mawela, said that the crew of 22 people 12 women and 10 men were filming a music video when they were allegedly attacked by a group of armed men clad in blankets.

The suspects ordered everyone to lay down and proceeded to rape eight of the women and robbed everyone of their belongings before fleeing the scene, he said. All the crew's video equipment was stolen. He said that the police are investigating 32 counts of rape.

Laboratory studies of DNA samples from the raped women will be used to identify the perpetrators, the national minister of police, Bheki Cele, said on Monday.

Other people arrested are expected to face additional charges of illegal immigration and illegal mining.

More than 300 people protested outside the Krugersdorp magistrates court on Monday to express fury over the rapes.

News of the gang rapes and robbery has angered community and women s organisations in the area who complained that such incidents are rife around Krugersdorp.

We are going to demand that the police station be put under administration because the community has reported many crimes committed by the zama-zamas but nothing has been done, said Zandile Dabula, secretary general of Operation Dudula, an organisation that protests against illegal immigrants in South Africa.

It is clear that they are failing to deal with crime in this area, so they should be placed under administration, said Dabula.