A man suspected to be the Umzinto serial killer has been arrested in Chatsworth, south of Durban, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday.
Members of the community tipped off police, who later found the suspect at a house, the report said.
The man allegedly strangled five women and dumped their bodies in a sugar plantation at Shayamoya on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
Police spokesperson Zandra Hechter said the man would appear in court later this week, the broadcaster reported.
The Sowetan newspaper reported last week that because of the evidence of one woman — who nearly became a victim of the serial killer, but managed to escape — detectives were close to compiling an identikit of the killer.
Hechter told the newspaper a key witness in the investigation had apparently sat next to the alleged killer on a minibus taxi bound for Shayamoya. ”She fortunately did not meet him as they had planned. Instead she returned home. She has provided us with vital information.”
Only one of the victims, Nombali Ngcobo (35) from Inanda, had been identified by last week. Police were still awaiting DNA and forensic results as well as confirmations of identity from the other victims’ families.
The serial killer’s victims’ were aged between 18 and 35 years. The killer apparently lured them to the area with promises of jobs and then raped and strangled them.