A 28-year-old man accused of kidnapping and raping two nurses from Ga-Chuene Clinic at gunpoint is expected to return to the Polokwane High Court on Thursday, 22 October 2026.

The trial was postponed on Monday after the defence lawyer became unavailable amid the ongoing strike at Legal Aid South Africa. The accused remains in custody.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Regional Spokesperson for the Limpopo Division, Mashudu Malabi, the accused allegedly threatened security personnel at Ga-Chuene Clinic outside Polokwane with a firearm and handcuffed them before kidnapping the two nurses.

He allegedly took the nurses to nearby bushes, where he raped them and robbed them of their cellphones. The victims later managed to return to the clinic.

The incident forms part of a series of alleged violent crimes committed between December 2024 and January 2025 in Ga-Chuene and Ga-Maja villages near Lebowakgomo Township.

The accused faces five counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping, attempted murder, seven counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, six counts of housebreaking with intent to commit an offence, and charges of possessing an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and pointing a firearm.

He is also accused of sexually assaulting minors. His identity has been withheld to protect a minor complainant in one of the rape charges.

Investigators allegedly linked him to the offences while he was already in police custody in connection with an unrelated matter.