Police spokesman Captain Etienne Terblanche declined to say where the man, believed to be in his early 20s, was being guarded.

"The only thing I will say is that he is in a safe house in the Western Cape," Terblanche said. "We are still looking at a witness protection programme as a long-term solution."

The victim raised the alarm when he staggered out of the house to a nearby filling station. Police were alerted to the gruesome murder when staff at the filling station flagged down a passing police patrol vehicle.

Terblanche said the man, who is believed to have suffered two bullet wounds to his face, returned to the Sizzlers massage parlour in Graham Road on Tuesday, accompanied by detectives working on the case.

Terblanche declined to reveal why the man was taken back to the house, other than to say that "he is a witness."

Seven employees of the parlour, a client, and the owner, Eric Otgaar, were massacred in the Graham Road house in the early hours of January 20. They were found tied up and shot in the back of the head with a 9mm pistol. Most of them had their throats slit with a carpet knife.

A Cape Town morning newspaper reported on Wednesday that the family of one of the victims, Gregory Berghaus, 43, had offered a R100 000 reward for information leading to the killers' arrests and convictions.

Police had not offered any reward. "We have a standard reward policy and if we get information, on any crime, we can apply for a reward to be offered."

Police were still searching for four suspects who reportedly drove off from the crime scene in an older model white BMW.

Terblanche said there had been an "incredible" response from the public after the identikits of two men wanted in connection with the Sizzlers murders appeared in newspapers last week.

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