Top cop arrested for alleged rape and sexual grooming amid Madlanga inquiry, GBV scourge

A lieutenant general with the South African Police Service (SAPS) is set to appear in a Gauteng court after his arrest for allegedly raping a teen girl and sexually grooming another.

The 59-year-old, who has not been officially identified, is expected in the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 22 September 2026.

He was arrested on Monday.

The SABC’s Heidi Giokos reported that sources said the lieutenant general had been at a strip club near the Sandton police station when he heard he was being detained.

Alleged sexual grooming and hotel rape

A SAPS statement issued on Monday evening said: “The senior officer faces charges relating to the alleged sexual grooming of a 16-year-old girl between July and August 2026, as well as the alleged rape of an 18-year-old woman.

“The alleged rape is reported to have occurred at a hotel in Sandton in May 2026.”

Members of the Commissions Recommendations Task Team carried out his arrest.

The police service has previously explained that the team “is responsible for investigating matters arising from recommendations made by the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.”

This means the lieutenant general’s arrest is tied to the commission’s work – it is investigating whether a cartel has infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, politics and private sector.

So far, over more than a year of testimony from various witnesses, it has heard many accusations against, among others, law enforcers, including senior police officers.

The lieutenant general’s arrest on Monday now adds to the list of officers detained and (when he appears in court on Tuesday) criminally charged.

‘No one is above the law’

Monday’s arrest comes as police are focused on investigations into nine murdered women whose bodies were discovered in Gauteng’s East Rand, sparking fears of a serial killer.

The multiple murders have also caused a national outcry against gender-based violence and femicide.

Monday’s arrest means that while police officers were investigating the women’s killings, their colleagues have also arrested one of their own for alleged crimes targeting a girl and a woman.

On Monday, Acting National Police Commissioner Puleng Dimpane welcomed the lieutenant general’s arrest, especially given the fight against gender-based crimes.

“Police officers are entrusted with protecting women and children,” she said.

“They cannot themselves be implicated in conduct that undermines this responsibility. As the country continues to confront the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide, there can be no room for anyone within the police service who is alleged to abuse their position or violate the rights of women and children.”

Dimpane said the fight against such crime extended to within policing ranks.

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“Rank, position or seniority cannot place anyone above the law,” she said.

“Where credible allegations of criminal conduct are brought against a police officer, they must be investigated without fear or favour.”

In another case in April this year, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) arrested a police colonel in the Western Cape for sexual assault and rape. 

“It is alleged that the accused colonel sexually assaulted and raped his female subordinate within (Protection and Security Services) in May 2025,” a statement from earlier this year said.

Ipid’s 2024 to 2025 annual report said that 95 cases classified as “rape by police officer” were recorded. (It was not immediately clear whether these cases had been concluded and what the outcomes were.)

Broader crime situation

According to the latest official SAPS crime statistics, covering three months from April to June 2026, sexual offences in the country dropped by 0.8% from 11,630 to 11,532.

Murders, meanwhile, dropped by 5.9%, from 5,770 to 5,427.

The official SAPS magazine from last month, using the most recently released statistics, said: “Cases of rape have also slightly dipped, proving that campaigns on gender-based violence are yielding positive results, but more can still be done to flatten the curve completely”.

A 0.3% drop was recorded nationally.

“About 4,121 of the rape offences committed across the country happened at residential places of perpetrators or victims of crime and residences known by victims or perpetrators, friends, family and neighbours,” the police magazine said.

“Public places also rear an ugly head with 1,462 counts of rape reported to have occurred there. Recreational parks, streets, parking areas and open fields have turned out to be crime scenes in this period.” DM