Durban - The Pinetown father accused of killing his three children and stepdaughter also faces a charge of rape.
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Natasha Ramkissoon-Kara, the charge was added this week when the man appeared in the Pinetown Magistrate's Court.
Ramkissoon-Kara said the man is alleged to have raped the victim shortly before the alleged murders of his children.
The man cannot be named until he pleads to the rape charge.
The man's children aged 4, 6, and 10 were found hanged in their family home on September 3.
His 16-year-old step daughter was strangled with a bathrobe belt and found in the bush in Padfield Park, Pinetown.
The Daily News reported that the children's mother, a teacher, left her Wyebank home for work in the morning, with her husband saying he was going to find another place to live.
On her way to work she stopped at the police station to report an argument they had had the night before.
The suspect remains in police custody and is expected back in court next week.