Five people have been arrested in connection with the murder of five women whose decomposing bodies were found in a sugar-cane field on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, police said on Monday.
Police spokesperson Zandra Hechter, confirming the arrests, said a task team had followed leads that initially took it to Stanger, north of Durban, and then to Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape.
In Stanger, one person was arrested late on Sunday evening.
Police investigations then led to a house in Durban’s Chatsworth suburb on Monday morning, where a further four people were arrested.
Hechter said items belonging to the deceased were also recovered in the Chatsworth house.
While police have officially only identified one of the dead women, it is believed that they know the identity of more. The only person identified so far is Nombali Ngcobo (35) from Inanda.
The five badly decomposed corpses of the women were found more than a week ago in a sugar-cane field adjoining the Shayamoya township of Umzinto.
Although police have not released details, it is believed that the women were lured to Umzinto with the promise of employment and then possibly raped and murdered.
The five arrested are expected to appear in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. — Sapa