Category: Crime & Corruption News

The Justice and Constitutional Development Department has clarified a media report that hackers demanded a R33 million ransom, following a ransomware attack on the department’s Information Technology systems, earlier this month.

According to the report, hackers allegedly encrypted all information on the department’s electronic system, including backups and demanded the ransom be paid – an allegation the department strongly denied.

“The [department] would like to place it on the record that it has not received any ransom demand following the ransomware attack as suggested by an article…published on 20 September 2021. The article to this effect is completely untrue,” the department said.

Meanwhile, the department said it has recovered some functionality on its MojaPay system which controls its child maintenance payment system and these have been administered.

The restoration of other services is still underway.

“To date, great progress had been made to contain the spread, while restoring critical services to the public. While the department is not yet in a position to determine the exact date when all systems will be restored, it is encouraged by the progress made by the IT experts thus far,” the department said.

In the courts, the department has introduced manual systems to ensure that proceedings are not negatively affected.

“The Department’s IT team, working closely with IT Coordinators and Directors for Court Operations at the Regional Offices, has introduced standard operating procedures for manually operating the Court Recording Technology (CRT) systems to ensure that the safety of the court records is guaranteed. All courts are expected to operate normally without any challenges related to the CRT systems,” the department said.

The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has welcomed the judgement handed down by the Constitutional Court in which she was cited as one of the respondents.

The Constitutional Court on Monday dismissed the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) application to declare the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) decision to reopen candidate nominations for the Local Government Elections as invalid and unlawful and set aside.

“The Constitutional Court had previously dismissed an application by the IEC which sought an order to postpone the forthcoming municipal elections to February 2022,” the CoGTA department explained.

“In terms of paragraph 5(a) of that order, the IEC was ordered to determine within three days thereof, whether it was practically possible to hold a voter registration weekend to register new voters and change registered voters’ particulars on the national voters’ roll in time for the local government elections.”

The IEC subsequently determined it would be possible to hold a voter registration this past weekend.

“However, in addition to this, the Commission also advised that it would be amending the election timetable to include the re-opening of the candidate nomination process as this was necessary as a consequence of holding a voter registration weekend.”

According to the department, the Minister, as one of the respondents in this application, filed an affidavit.

“[The Minister] addressed the DA’s incorrect interpretation of the Constitutional Court order dated 3 September 2021, the correct source of the IEC’s powers, the DA’s application countenance a breach of the separation of powers and lastly the ambit of the order.”

In a unanimous judgement decided without an oral hearing by the Court, CoGTA said the highest court in the land stated that the proper approach to interpretation involves a unitary exercise in which a court seeks to ascertain the meaning of a provision in light of the document as a whole and context of admissible background evidence.

“The Court held that the proper interpretation to paragraph 5(a) of the order envisaged an amendment to the timetable in respect of registering voters,” the department added.

The department has since called on all eligible South Africans to exercise their democratic right and responsibility to vote during the 2021 Local Government Elections and to strengthen the country’s democracy.

The Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday dismissed with costs an application for leave to appeal by New Dawn Technologies and Valor IT.

The matter involved a portion of a contract for an Electronic Document Management System for the Department of Home Affairs.

The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed the application because it found that “there is no reasonable prospect of success in an appeal and there is no other compelling reason why an appeal should be heard”.

The summons of the two companies amount to R630 million, with New Dawn Technologies claiming R602 million and Valor IT, R28 million.

The sum of these monies amounts to about a third of the department’s audited contingent liability of R2.1 billion in the 2019/2020 financial year.

Contingent liabilities, being the amount of claims, are recorded when summonses are issued and are removed only once a judgment is made.

The R2.1 billion contingent liability is the value of claims against the department and not an amount owed.

The judgment comes after the Auditor-General warned in January 2021 that possible claims against the department were too high and could compromise operations and service delivery if they became payable during a financial year.

Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi on Monday welcomed the decision of the court.

“The judgment frees executive time and resources to allow senior managers to continue focusing on the urgent task of providing services to people and to fight corruption.

“It also helps us to implement the recommendations of the Auditor-General,” said Motsoaledi.

He said the judgment was also giving impetus to actively managing the risk of possible future claims against the department by taking outstanding claims to court or defending them, including looking at alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

The Minister added that a lot of future possible claims against the department remained in the books of the department because they were not finalised in court.

Motsoaledi instructed the department’s management to be more pro-active and bring matters on the contingent liability list to court even where the plaintiff has failed to take any further action after issuing summons.

Last year, the Gauteng North High Court found that there was no legally binding contract between the department and the two companies for the provision of an Electronic Document Management System.

In his judgment, Judge J Davis ruled that: “Both New Dawn and Valour IT had been unsuccessful in their claims that agreements had come into being between them and the DHA regarding certain portions of an Electronic Document Management System in respect of which bids (RFB 458) had been made in 2005 with the closing date 31 January 2006.

“The tender in respect of EDMS was for a 3-year project, which period has long ago expired without the EDMS ever being implemented.

“On 26 November 2020, this Court found that no award which complies with the statutory prescripts and the terms contained in the bid documents had been made to either of the applicants. Accordingly, no binding agreement came into being between the two parties…”

New Dawn Technologies has since petitioned the Constitutional Court on the matter and the department is opposing the application.

Valor IT has since withdrawn its claim against the department.

Consequently, the Minister has instructed the department to pursue its legal costs against Valor IT, which date back to 2010 when the initial claim was filed.

The recovery of costs against New Dawn will be determined by the outcome of the Constitutional Court ruling.

The Department of Higher Education and Training, through Higher Health, is rolling out stakeholder engagement programmes in response to gender-based violence and mental health incidents in the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector.

The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, has hailed stakeholder engagement programmes targeting the youth as a “game changer”.

Nzimande said the massive roll-out of these programmes adds to the already released set of instruments to further strengthen the realisation of the policy framework on GBV within the PSET sector.

“Higher Health has established relationships with 21 campus-based radio stations and youth based regional and community radio stations to capacitate, train and run content 42 times a week on gender-based violence and mental health issues,” Nzimande said.

The Minister said these programmes add to Higher Health’s 24-hour toll-free helpline available in all 11 official languages that enable students to report GBV and mental incidents.

The line offers health, wellness and psychosocial risk assessment toolkits for early screening, empowerment and referral related to gender-based violence, mental health, HIV, TB and other matters.

“All our universities have measures in place to raise awareness and offer guidance and advice on GBV-related matters. These include, but not limited to, workshops or presentations during orientation weeks and during various parts of the year for students, roadshows, training, production and dissemination of brochures and other literature for the university community,” the Minister said.

The Minister said in addition to these initiatives, a large number of students have completed a curriculum on GBV prevention and mitigation, empowering them with knowledge and understanding of GBV.

The Ministerial Task Team established to advise the Minister and the Department of Higher Education and Training on gender-based violence held a series of consultation with institutions and established that not all of them have sufficient means to deal with GBV and other harm.

“The department and Higher Health will continue to support these institutions to address this challenge because GBV and associated harm is another pandemic that we must collectively defeat,” Nzimande said.

The rollout comes weeks after the death of Fort Hare Law student, Nosicelo Mtebeni, who was brutally murdered and dismembered by her boyfriend in East London.

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) has arrested a member of the South Africa National Defence Force (SANDF) for his involvement in cross-border crimes in the Northern Cape.

The 30-year-old suspect is expected to appear in the Musina Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, following his arrest on Wednesday in the Northern Cape.

This brings the total number of SANDF members arrested in relation to cross-border crimes under the project dubbed ‘Night Vigil’ to eight.

The first seven suspects, which included two Lance Corporals and five Privates, were arrested in the Free State, Northern Cape and North West provinces on 21 June 2021 during a sting operation between the Hawks, National Intervention Unit and SANDF members.

The accused were deployed at the Beitbridge border post to defend and protect the territorial integrity of South Africa between 2017 and 2019.

It is alleged that during their deployment period, they plotted with syndicates to smuggle stolen vehicles through the Limpopo river in exchange for money.

It is further alleged that the suspects would demand R15 000 per vehicle that would be shared among themselves.

The other seven accused are out on R3 000 bail each and they will appear in court again on 25 October 2021.

Gauteng Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, has welcomed the 25-year sentence imposed on a father who killed his three-year-old daughter.

The sentence was handed down at the Gauteng South High Court on Wednesday.

In a statement, Gauteng SAPS spokesperson, Captain Mavela Masondo, said: “On 24 January 2017, the deceased, Siphesihle Ndlovu, was left by her grandmother with her father Musi Hlatshwayo to be taken to preschool.

“The father, aged 24, then killed his daughter and decapitated her. He threw the head into a stream and put the body on a tree branch in Vosloorus.”

Masondo said a missing child was reported with the police. A search was launched and the body was recovered after five days in an open veld.

The police traced and arrested the father.

Mawela congratulated the detective in the case for the hard work and thorough investigation that led to the successful conviction of the accused.

“The fight against crime committed against women and children remains on top of the Gauteng Police’s list of priorities. We are pleased with this successful conviction and believe it will send a strong message to those who abuse children,” he said.

The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit has arrested a 36-year-old suspect in Gauteng following the August 2020 data breach at Experian.

In a statement, the Hawks on Wednesday said Experian entered into a contract with the suspect, who purported to be a certain Tebogo Mogashoa, a director of Talis Holdings.

“The agreement gave the person access to the personal information of millions of people, held by the Credit Bureau.  The suspect then proceeded to download approximately 23 million personal data records and 727 000 business records.

“The suspect then attempted to sell these records at about R4.2 million,” said Hawks spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale.

Subsequent to his arrest, the suspect was expected to appear today at the Palm Ridge court on charges of fraud and the contravention of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.

An Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Department (EMPD) officer has been handed a six year prison sentence for corruption.

In a statement, Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks) Gauteng spokesperson, Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu, said the gavel fell on Constable Mazulwandile Wilson Makaula, 49, on Friday at the Vosloorus Magistrates’ court.

Mulamu said: “In May 2018, Makaula was on duty when he intercepted a motorist in Vosloorus during a random stop and search.

“After searching the vehicle, Makaula demanded R300 from the driver threatening, to impound the vehicle without valid reasons. The driver gave Makaula R150 in cash for his vehicle not to be impounded.”

On the same day, she said Makaula further demanded the outstanding balance of R150 from the motorist to release the vehicle. The matter was immediately reported to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation in Germiston for further investigation.

“A sting operation was conducted at a shopping complex in Vosloorus where Makaula was arrested in possession of the R150-00 entrapment cash. He was found guilty of corruption in June this year.

The court also declared Makaula unfit to possess a firearm.

Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Manamela, has welcomed the hefty sentence handed down to Sbusiso Nkosi.

The 36-year-old Nkosi was sentenced to two life imprisonment terms for the murder and rape of 23-year-old Nomcebo Simelane.

The Mpumalanga High Court sitting at Breyten on Monday sentenced Nkosi after his guilty plea following overwhelming evidence brought forward by the state against him.

The court heard that on 05 September 2020, a friend of Nkosi requested him to give a lift to Simelane from a liquor outlet in Breyten as it was late for her to travel alone at night.

“Instead of taking her home, he took a different route to a secluded area near the R36 Road. He then raped her and strangled her to death inside his vehicle. Nkosi then dumped her lifeless body in an open field and fled the scene.

“The following day, he realised that her cell phone was inside his car and threw it into a sewage pipe in an attempt to ensure that no one would ever find out the truth,” Police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli said.

Simelane was then reported missing after her family could not locate her and her lifeless body was then discovered next to the R36 Road on 06 September 2020.

Lieutenant General Manamela has also praised the investigation team, the Prosecution as well as the Judiciary for the sterling work done in this case which culminated into a well-deserved sentence.

“The sentence will hopefully serve as a deterrence to those who think that women do not deserve to live and be treated as human beings but rather suffer at their hands,” Manamela said.

Police Minister Bheki Cele will today receive a full briefing from KwaZulu-Natal SAPS management on a drive-by shooting that claimed the lives of three women in Inanda, in Durban, at the weekend.

In a statement, the Police Ministry expressed shock at the incident. The shooting happened on Saturday.

“A black Opel Corsa bakkie with five occupants, opened fire at a group of people waiting outside a local primary school,” the Ministry said.

The brazen attacked claimed the lives of Ncami Shange, 34, Beatrice Nzama, 60, and Philisiwe Jili, 37. A further five more people were injured and taken to hospital.

The Minister will also visit the site of the incident.