The woman, in her late 20s, from Gloucestershire, and her South African boyfriend were snatched at gunpoint as they stopped to admire the view at Long Tom Pass in Mpumalanga province.

They were then driven around by the attackers who took it in turns to rape the woman.

The woman now faces an agonising wait for the results of tests to see if she has contracted the HIV virus.

Attacks on Britons in South Africa

July 2001 - Harry Strike, from Essex, shot dead by robbers February 2001 - Colin Webster, 70, from Lancaster, shot and strangled at his farm in KwaZulu-Natal Diane Conway, 60, from Wiltshire, shot dead by robbers in Mpumalanga

A man who stopped to try to help the couple was allegedly shot and killed near the Kruger National Park.

The pair only managed to escape when the car they were in overturned 180 miles away.

A gang of four men grabbed the couple at about 1200 GMT on Saturday, tying them up and slashing their backs and wrists.

They then drove through the night, attacking the woman at gunpoint, until they lost control of the car and it crashed near Barberton at around 0200 GMT on Sunday.

Passing motorist Domingo Chamber, 34, from Germiston, South Africa, was shot in the head as he stopped to help at the scene of the accident. He died instantly.

Four men have been arrested in connection with the attack.

Two men, aged 20 and 29, were captured a few miles from the scene of the crash on Sunday. A wallet and mobile phone, believed to belong to the woman's boyfriend, were recovered from one of them.

The men, who were treated in hospital for gunshot wounds and head injuries, are expected to appear in court on Tuesday, charged with armed robbery.

Two other men, aged 20 and 21, were captured early on Tuesday following a shoot-out with police. One of them was shot in the bladder, the other was wounded in the leg.

Divisional Commissioner of the South African police Johan de Beer said: "We condemn this incident in the strongest possible terms and will do whatever it takes to bring the suspects of this horrific crime to book."

Tourist attacks

The attack is the latest in a string of crimes against tourists in the country.

Last month Diane Conway, from Warminster, Wiltshire, was shot dead in the garden of her hotel in Pilgrims Rest - less than 20 miles from the remote beauty spot where the couple were abducted.

Mrs Conway and her husband John, who was injured in the attack, had been on holiday in South Africa to celebrate her 60th birthday.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned people in the area to take care.

She said: "Our current travel advice warns travellers going to the area where this incident happened about the risk of carjackings."