Police are searching for panga gangs committing rapes and hijackings in the “lovers' lanes” of Rustenburg.
North West police spokesman Lt-Col Lesego Metsi said on Monday: “The most recent hijacking incident was on Friday night.”
Since November 2010, two gangs had been using similar modus operandi to hijack couples sitting in their cars in secluded areas, he said.
Three or four gang members would surround the car and wait until the couple got comfortable before smashing the windscreen with a panga.
They would then assault the man and gang-rape his partner before escaping with their car.
Metsi said the gangs targeted three areas. The most recent hijackings were near Olympia Park Stadium, on the corner of Strumosa and Lekkerbreek streets.
The Kwagga's Pan, a panoramic viewpoint near 1st Avenue and on both sides of the Eastern Bypass, near the sewage treatment plant, were also hijack hotspots.
Police patrols had been stepped up in these areas and the municipality was considering erecting fences to make the areas less accessible, Metsi said.
“We would like to urge people, especially men who usually take their partners to such secluded places, to make sure that they are always safe from criminal elements,” he said. - Sapa