Dozens of men have been arrested after models filming a music video in South Africa were gang-raped. The suspects, who are believed to be illegal gold miners, are accused of targeting their victims while shooting near the town of Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg. Armed attackers robbed the crew, made up of 12 women and 10 men, before going on a sexual assault frenzy, police said. Police have arrested more than eighty men, reportedly members of “zama-zama” gangs operating in closed mine shafts and charged locally with a range of crimes. Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, police commissioner for Gauteng province, said: “The 22-strong crew… were busy filming a music video when they were allegedly attacked by a group of armed men dressed in blankets. “The suspects ordered everyone to lie down and proceeded to rape eight of the women and rob them of their belongings before fleeing the scene.” One victim, who was involved in organizing the production, told the South African Sunday Times: “I was blaming myself, thinking that if it wasn’t for me, these girls wouldn’t be there. “I felt responsible and wanted to take all the pain so the girls wouldn’t be touched. Police have arrested dozens of suspects after reports of the crime horrified South Africa (Image: Jamie Pyatt) There were protests outside the local court following news of the attack (Image: AP) “I blamed myself, thinking that if it wasn’t for me, these girls wouldn’t be there “The first person who was raped was me. The first time they took me to the bush and the second time they took me to a hole where no one could see us. “They would tell the younger boys to rape us and beat them and force them to do it. “The young lads used to take us then, one by one, into the bush. The last time I was raped was in front of the other team.’ A 19-year-old victim was forced to lie about having a recent miscarriage to avoid the attack, the report said. South Africa’s national police minister said DNA techniques would be used to secure prosecutions of the accused. Police say they are using forensic evidence to bring the perpetrators to justice (Image: Jamie Wyatt) More than 300 people demonstrated outside the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on Monday to express community outrage over the rapes. The case has also sparked outrage against illegal immigrants, some of whom are said to be coming to the region to exploit South Africa’s closed mines. Zandile Dabula, secretary general of Operation Dudula, an organization protesting against illegal immigration in South Africa, was among those who added their voice to the chorus of anger. He said: “We will demand that the police station be put under management because the community has reported many crimes committed by the zama-zamas but nothing has been done.” Contact our news team by emailing [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.