The 32-year-old father of two was arrested on Friday in Phakgameng, near Modimolle, after DNA profiling linked him to four rape cases, said Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.

He appeared briefly in court on Friday, but was not asked to plead, he said.

Muaudzi said the man could be linked to as many as 100 cases and had been under investigation since October, when he was arrested for raping a 17-year-old girl.

The case was withdrawn because of insufficient evidence, but DNA results connected the man to four other cases, said Mulaudzi.

He said the serial rapist would follow women from work or from shebeens, grab them from behind, rape them at knifepoint in the veld and steal their cellphones and other valuables. He had been active in Modimolle since 2009.

The man would appear again in the Modimolle Magistrate's Court next Monday.