Sex workers describe suspect nabbed for murder of six as a ‘charming, cute, gentleman’

“A charming young man with a clean haircut.”

This is how a group of sex workers described the 21-year-old suspect arrested on Sunday after the gruesome discovery of six bodies — believed to be of sex workers —  at a building in Johannesburg.

TimesLIVE Premium visited the area where the incident happened and several rattled sex workers shared what they knew about the suspect. 

One woman said she believes she could have been one of the six victims. Recalling her encounter with the suspect in May, she explained how she escaped possible death.

The woman said the man picked her up on Saturday afternoon at about 5pm at their spot where they operate and have security.

“I thought I got my ‘Ben10’ and that maybe he was craving an older woman. He said he was going to a hotel in Rosettenville but he started slowing down when we arrived there,” she said, pointing at the intersection closer to the building.  

The 49-year-old said the man asked if she had a  phone but she didn’t have one at the time. When he started driving slowly, she realised that they were not going to a hotel and said she did not feel safe in that area.

She claimed to have grabbed the car steering wheel and forcefully opened the door and quickly got out the car screaming and shouting.

“I realised that there were no hotels there. I screamed while running to the garage on the other side and that’s where I took a taxi,” she said.

It is a young man who changed cars. He would drive in and out. I was surprised when I learnt that he was the one who is suspected of doing it.

—  Nearby carwasher

She said the suspect drove a vehicle with tinted windows and ever since the incident she hasn’t accepted clients who would want to pick her up from that spot.

“Remember at that time, he hadn’t paid me. He was so sweet and charming and I thought this young boy, maybe he is craving an older woman,” she said.

She said looking back, she could have been the first person to die.

Most sex workers who went to the building on Monday corroborated her story and indicated that they believe the man arrested is the person who was terrorising them for months.

They said he would lure them, promising to take them to his home or a hotel and that he didn’t prefer their spot.

One sex worker reportedly disappeared soon thereafter.  

After that incident, it was calm for about a month but it started again.

Another sex worker, 40, said at first they didn’t realise how he operated until they noticed that the suspicious man started picking up women every Sunday.

 “We didn’t realise it is the same guy because he changed cars every time. There are many people who escaped from him. When you escape — you come back without a phone, money and clothes,” she alleged.

She said the suspect “was very cute”.

A man who washes cars a few metres away from the building, said he always saw the suspect arriving and leaving the building.

“It is a young man who changed cars. He would drive in and out. I was surprised when I learnt that he was the one who is suspected of doing it,” said the carwasher who did not want to be named.

“He was very quiet. Maybe he committed these crimes in the evening because we never suspected anything. We started to hear about it when they said one person was missing and last seen here and then we started hearing about the other bodies,” he said.

Another sex worker, 37, said they wanted justice and did not want the man to be released on bail.

The mother of two said there were no job opportunities and working as a sex worker was her only source of income.

“It is very painful. It could happen to any of us, we need justice — that’s why we are not working today. We don’t want him to get bail, he must feel our pain,” she said.

The single mother said she was providing for her 19-year-old child in Zimbabwe and her four-year-old who stays with her in Johannesburg.

“It’s fine for him to rape me but what is the use of killing me?” she said, speaking hypothetically.

“Why must he kill me, who will look after our kids? It is painful because we know these people [victims]. We worked with them,” she said.

A 42-year-old sex worker said one of their colleagues had been missing for more than three months. From there on, they would hear stories of sex workers being targeted on Sundays. 

“When you don’t see someone you work with, you ask where she is and by Wednesday, you realise that person is gone. The minute a person climbs into a car on a Sunday you know she won’t come back. That’s very painful,” she said.

The woman shared how, she and her co-workers, who occupy End Street in Johannesburg CBD, would usually operate to ensure their safety. 

When a client picked them up, they would usually leave one of their phones and the money paid upfront by the client with one of their colleagues. They usually use two phones, a smartphone and a smaller one, and when they are picked up they would take the smaller phone with them.  

“The small phone that you leave with rings for three days and after that is off. It seems like he didn’t even switch off the phones until the battery dies. That’s why we believe he is the same person. His modus operandi was the same — when someone is missing and you try to contact them, the phone would ring without being answered and after three to four days the phone would be off,” she said.

She said she is traumatised, scared and doesn’t trust any men but has to go back and work to make money.

“We trusted him, he gave you money before you left with him but you will no longer come back,” she said.

For the past three months, she and her colleagues have been working in fear though they believe the alleged suspect slowed down for about three weeks but the killings started picking up every Sunday.

She and other sex workers had gone to the building where the bodies were discovered on Sunday. One eyewitness said the women were found with their hands tied behind their backs.

“All the victims were tied when they were discovered. One body was found in a bin, the others under boxes. One in the back of a van,” she said.

Another sex worker said they went to the building on Monday for answers and to find out why people were still working as if everything was normal. 

The building is a panelbeaters which started about a year ago. TimesLIVE Premium understands that before this, the premises was used to manufacture work boots.

The suspect, who has been linked to the panelbeating business, is expected to appear at the Johannesburg magistrate court on Tuesday.

Police spokesperson Brig Brenda Muridili said it was reported that on October 2 at 8pm, the suspect was seen with the deceased woman.

“She was never seen again until her body was discovered on Sunday morning. The clothes she was wearing matches the description of one of the missing persons reported recently. Upon questioning the suspect, the police went back to the building and five more bodies were discovered outside the building where there is a makeshift workshop and rubbish dumpsters,” she said.

She said the five bodies were at a late stage of decomposition and would be subjected to forensic analysis for identification.

The suspect is charged with six counts of murder.