A third person has been arrested in connection with the murders of 18 people in the Mzamba area in the Eastern Cape, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) news reported on Wednesday.
A special police task team set up to investigate the murders arrested the man in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.
Police said the man was from the Transkei but had fled to the Nelson Mandela Bay metropole after two other men were arrested in connection with the murders.
All the female victims — 17 of the 18 people killed– had been raped, hacked to death and had their genitals removed.
The special task team was given a boost with the inclusion of police officers from all over the province. Police were offering a R20 000 reward for anyone who could assist in the arrest of the culprit.
Six of the 18 murdered women were from the same family. Most of the victims worked at the Wild Coast Casino.
On Wednesday a 19-year-old man appeared before the Bizana Magistrate’s Court on four charges of muti-related murder, one of attempted murder and another of rape allegedly committed in the Mzamba area.
He would appear again on Tuesday, Superintendent Mzukisi Fatyela told the South African Press Association on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old allegedly confessed to four of the murders including the murder of a 50-year-old man and his two daughters, aged 20 and 22, over the weekend, the SABC reported.
A second man, implicated by the 19-year-old during questioning, would appear in court on Thursday.
The three suspects would face charges of murder, rape and attempted murder.
Eighteen people have been found murdered in the Mzamba area near the Wild Coast Casino since October last year. – Sapa