A KwaZulu-Natal pastor has been arrested for allegedly raping young girls, since 2015, who he was supposed to be praying for.

The 35-year-old pastor, who had a church at Richmond Farm in Ntuzuma, was arrested on four counts of rape. 

Police said the counts of rape were reported at the Ntuzuma police station. 

"It is alleged that, since 2015, the pastor has been preying on young girls raised by single parents, appearing to play a fatherly role to them," police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said.

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The pastor will appear in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Mbele said one victim reported that she had approached the suspect and asked him to pray for her after she had not been feeling well. 

The pastor prayed for her and then requested that she get into his vehicle. She says he then took her to his residence in Avoca, Durban, where he raped her. 

"For the past three years, the victim was silent about the incident and she only reported the rape to Ntuzuma police station this month," she said.

Mbele said, after hearing that the suspect was allegedly raping young girls, angry members of the community damaged the church tent where he preached and demanded that he not return to the area.