Gauteng police have nabbed a man believed to be part of a taxi related murder plus multiple rape charges in Ennerdale on Saturday.

The arrest follows a crime-intelligence driven operation set against the backdrop of a taxi-related murder reported at Everton in the Sedibeng district earlier this year.

"The multi-disciplinary operation was conducted by a task team set up to specifically look into taxi violence, public violence, police killings, high profile cases, ATM-bombings and truck hijackings," said Gauteng provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela.

"Subsequent investigations have at this point seen the suspect being linked to 18 rape cases committed over a period of 10 years since 2009 in Meadowlands, Orlando and other parts of Soweto." 

Gauteng cops liaised with their counterparts in KwaZulu-Natal to establish a possible link with a litany of other crimes committed in Madadeni, Bergville, Harrismith and Escourt between 2018 and 2019.

"Further investigations are underway and will continue until police are satisfied that all possibilities of links to previous crimes have been exhausted," Mawela said. 

Mawela further applauded the work police put in to apprehend the suspect.

"Integration of resources has yet again proven to be valuable in the tracing of most wanted suspects whom police have in many instances, found to be repeat-offenders responsible for a large percentage of serious and violent crimes."

The police’s top brass has urged the investigating team to work even harder to ensure that the cases are watertight in pursuit of a successful conviction and appropriate sentence.

The suspect will appear in court soon pending consultation with the [National] Prosecuting Authority.