How Kotze was cornered

Suspected Limpopo murderer and gang-rape fugitive Johan Kotze was arrested yesterday after a week-long manhunt.

Police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said Kotze, 51, - on the run since the murder of his stepson, and the gang-rape and mutilation of his estranged wife last week - was caught in Modimolle, Limpopo.

"Kotze allegedly lured his former wife into the house and tied her legs and hands around the bed and ordered his employees to rape her," Mulaudzi said.

"Her son, who was told that his mother was to be attacked, went to the house and allegedly found three men taking turns to rape her and Kotze pointing a gun at her head."

Earlier yesterday, a man believed to be one of the three rapists was arrested at Makapanstad, in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.

Kotze had allegedly hired the three to remove palm trees from his Modimolle property.

People close to the investigation said Kotze had evaded arrest for a week by hiding in the thick bush around Modimolle.

A member of the public had spotted him in town on Tuesday night and had called the police.

Kotze was caught by a team that included members of the provincial dog unit and air wing at a house in town shortly before midday. He offered no resistance.

Colonel Mohale Ramatseba, of the Limpopo provincial police, said the murder weapon had not been found.

Without the help of the community, Mulaudzi said, the arrest would not have been made.

Interpol was involved in the investigation because Kotze also holds a Namibian passport.

Kotze and his alleged accomplice will appear in the Modimolle Magistrate's Court on Friday on charges of murder and rape.

Mulaudzi said the search for the two remaining fugitives was continuing and appealed to anyone with information to contact the nearest police station or phone 10111.

Kotze is reportedly from the Northern Cape town of Prieska, where acquaintances had no kind words for the man they once called "MacGyver", referring to a 1980s TV show.

Hennie Strauss, who said he knew Kotze from when he moved with his adoptive parents to the town in the early 1980s from Namibia, described him as a "difficult, aggressive man".

Residents still speak about the time Kotze allegedly shot dead a 60-year-old woman on a farm in 1993 while she was looking for her son. He was acquitted of murder.

Kotze, who is understood to have been married three times before, and his wife became estranged only four months after their wedding.

After the attack, she had difficulty walking and had to undergo surgery. Her breast implants had to be removed. Kotze allegedly tried to cut them off with a grinder.

Retired "supercop" Piet Beyleveld, who had been asked by the murdered boy's father to become involved in the hunt for Kotze, described his arrest as the result of "excellent police work".