Category: News

Police in Johannesburg intercepted a group of suspects on Thursday travelling in three vehicles and believed to be on their way to commit armed robbery in the Orlando policing precinct, in Soweto.

The police, acting on information received from Crime Intelligence, arrested 11 suspects aged between 33 and 43 and seized three unlicensed firearms and ammunition as well as the three vehicles.

“The police held an observation on the suspects and decided to conduct a takedown before the suspects could commit the planned robbery along Mooki Street and the Soweto Highway,” the South African Police Service said in a statement.

According to the police, no shots were fired during the arrest.

“The suspects are expected to appear before the Orlando Magistrate’s Court soon, facing charges of possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition as well as conspiracy to commit an armed robbery,” the police said.

Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says Cabinet has been updated on Eskom’s current planned maintenance plan which has resulted in higher stages of load shedding.

The increased maintenance is aimed at ensuring the sustainability of Eskom’s plants.

“The concerted implementation of the planned fleet maintenance programme has resulted in increased stages of load shedding in recent days.

“The implementation of Stage 6 load shedding in the last week was a regress from the trends that prevailed in the previous weeks of lower stages of load shedding,” she remarked.

The Minister was briefing the media following this week’s Cabinet meeting.

She said “the current implementation of increased stages of load shedding is a short-term phase as Eskom prepares for more sustained and lessened stages of load shedding in the not-so-distant future”.

“The Minister in the Presidency for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, will continue to update the nation on the progress being made to address the current electricity challenges and the steps being taken to ultimately end load shedding,” she said.

The five men found guilty of the rape and attempted rape of an 18-year-old female in Strydenburg have been sentenced to 10 and 15 years respectively by the Hopetown Regional Court.

The incident took place at a house in Strydenburg, Northern Cape, on 27 November 2010, where the five accused were drinking with the female victim.

Four of the males took turns raping and assaulting the victim. The victim managed to fight off the fifth accused who had assaulted and attempted to rape her.

The victim escaped and alerted neighbours who called the police. The men were arrested the following day and received bail 11 months later.

Joseph Kasper (32), Pieter Visser (21), Elcardo Demas (22) and Kobus Daniels (32) all received 15 years for rape, while Elton Van Rooyen (30) was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for attempted rape.

Police management have lauded Detective Sergeant Recardo Kock and all other assisting members from the Hopetown Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit for their relentless efforts in the lengthy investigation that ensured no impunity is granted to the perpetrators of this crime.

Cape Town’s new anti-litter mascot, Bingo, is hitting the campaign trail to schools as part of the city’s Spring Clean Campaign 2023, which aims to clamp down on illegal dumping and littering in the metro.

Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, joined Bingo at Caradale Primary School in Mitchells Plain on Wednesday, who entertained and encouraged learners to always keep Cape Town clean.

Hill-Lewis said the city wants to rekindle the anti-litter campaign in schools to inspire a new generation to never litter.

“Many of us will recall being reached by anti-littering messages during our school days, with phrases like ‘Zap it in the Zibi bin’. Our simple message is to always ‘Bin it in the Bingo Bin’, which is why our mascot is modelled on the thousands of green litter bins the city has placed across the metro.

“Bingo will hit the trail to primary schools across the metro as part of our annual Spring Clean campaign for 2023, and we will also be supplying schools with campaign content to display in classrooms, hallways and libraries,” Hill-Lewis said.

He said close to 200 000 additional bags of litter were collected across Cape Town last year as part of joint spring clean-up campaign efforts by the city, residents, civil society, schools and businesses.

“This year, the city will again scale-up cleaning operations in litter hotspots across the metro. Residents can get involved by organising clean-ups in their areas,” Hill-Lewis said.

Member of the Mayoral Committee for Urban Waste Management, Grant Twigg, said the city is expanding cleaning efforts along major routes and littering hotspots in preparation for the busy tourism season ahead.

“Our outreach teams will also be engaging residents in malls, schools, intersections and public places. Our simple message is to never litter, and always keep Cape Town clean.

“As part of the #SpringCleanCT campaign, a 24-hour toll-free number 0800 110077 is also available for residents to report illegal dumping tip-offs in exchange for a reward where this leads to arrests,” Twigg said.

Urban waste management services investments

Twigg said the city is also making major investments in Urban Waste Management services over the next three years, including:
•    R755 million to upgrade Urban Waste Management facilities, including landfills, drop-offs, waste to energy projects, recycling and depots;
•    R659 million for new refuse removal vehicles to ensure a reliable service;
•    R4.6 billion on expanded area cleaning, including street cleaning, beach cleaning, illegal dumping, events and more; and
•    R758 million towards the goal of improved informal settlements waste management.

Residents are urged to report illegal dumping on the 24-hour toll-free illegal dumping tip-off line — 0800 110077, or email solidwaste.bylaw@capetown.gov.za and include photographs or details that can help law enforcement identify and penalise the culprits.

To notify the city about dumping that needs to be cleared, please call 0860 103 089.

The Pietermaritzburg High Court has ruled that the August 1977 death of Dr Hoosen Haffejee was not self-inflicted, in contradiction to the finding of an initial inquest held in this regard.

The Durban anti-apartheid activist died 46 years ago at the Brighton Beach police station after he was detained by the Special Branch police officers on suspicion of his involvement in the struggle.

“Following an interrogation at the police station, Haffejee was found deceased in a cell with his trousers twisted around his neck, suggesting a possible ‘hanging’.

“An inquest held by the government at that time ruled that nobody could be held liable for Haffejee’s death and that the cause of his death was likely self-inflicted,” a statement from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) read.

However, since the original inquest and following the proceedings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the matter was referred to the NPA for the reopening of the inquest.

This reopened inquest was at the behest of a joint effort by the NPA and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI).

“The inquest was thus reopened and new additional evidence was presented to the inquest court.”

In reaching his decision, Judge Zaba Nkosi considered the evidence from medical experts disputing that Haffejee’s death was suicide.

Nkosi also deliberated testimonies of other detainees who also endured interrogations by the South African Police Security Branch and an inspection in loco where an expert had reconstructed the scene.

“In overturning the findings of the initial inquest, Nkosi referred to the first inquest as pitiful, sub-standard and riddled with bias.

“He concluded that Haffejee’s death was not self-inflicted,” the NPA said.

Nkosi found the suicide was staged to cover death under torture.

His recommendations, according to the NPA, were that the surviving members of the police security branch as well as others, be held responsible for Haffejee’s death.

Senior State Advocate Denardo MacDonald represented the NPA in these inquest proceedings.

The NPA said it welcomes the findings of the inquest court and the support of other stakeholders.

“This is an example of the NPA’s TRC component [which… addressed] the atrocities of apartheid crimes and getting justice for the victims and their families.

The City of Tshwane has advised residents that it has regrettably withdrawn, with immediate affect, its bus service and A Re Yeng operations.

The decision follows several incidents of organised violence and destruction of property in the city on Wednesday.

“A Tshwane bakkie, water tanker, three trucks from Water and Sanitation and an A Re Yeng bus were damaged in various violent attacks in the Pretoria CBD. Therefore, in the interest of the safety of both our communities and employees, we took the decision to suspend operations.

“Furthermore, it is important that we protect city infrastructure from these criminal acts. It is now clear that the city is no longer dealing with an illegal strike action, we are now dealing with a well-coordinated criminal attack on our infrastructure,” the city said.

The city has apologised to communities for the inconvenienced caused.

The city said it will work to ensure that all efforts are intensified to get the bus service back on track when it is safer to do so.

The Department of Employment and Labour’s Public Employment Service (PES) unit in Limpopo is today launching a series of community outreach programmes targeted at work seekers in the Capricorn District Municipality.

The outreach sessions begin today at Maikhutsong Crèche in Paledi Ga-Thoka.

According to the department, the sessions are aimed at enriching youth in the Capricorn District Municipality with valuable information for job hunting, making informed career decisions, and pursuing training and development opportunities.

Career Guidance Coordinator, Emmanuel Ravhudzulo, said the primary objective of these sessions is to assist job seekers with information that will enhance their career insights and bolster their employability through a range of job hunting skills programmes covering aspects such as CV writing, interview preparation and work ethics.

During these sessions, unemployed job seekers will receive comprehensive support and guidance on various strategies to secure employment or access skills development opportunities, and will also be registered on the Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) database for possible future employment.

“We are dedicated to helping individuals who find themselves at a career crossroad and are unsure about their next steps, whether it involves embarking on their initial career journey, advancing in their current profession, or exploring new career paths,” Ravhudzulo said.

Work seekers are encouraged to bring along their CVs to the sessions.

The outreach will take place according to the schedule below:

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has sent a stern warning to bogus employment recruiters who prey on vulnerable and unemployed people, claiming to be recruiting for a training programme on behalf of the department.

This comes after the department was inundated with calls and email queries in the past 24 hours about an alleged mass training programme which targets unemployed young people and pays a salary of R 5 800 per month.

Departmental spokesperson, Wisane Mavasa, said the bogus recruiters are conducting an illegitimate and criminal recruitment process, masquerading as officials from the department.

The department has not put out any training programme anywhere.

“We would like to put it on record that there is no such a programme in the department. All official employment adverts are placed on the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) job circular and can also be found on our official website,” Mavasa said on Tuesday.

Mavasa urged members of the public to be vigilant, avoid giving out their personal information and documents to anyone, or any institution without the relevant official identification.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has removed Public Protector, Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, from office on grounds of misconduct and incompetence following a National Assembly debate and vote on the Section 194 committee report.

The committee was established in March 2022 to conduct an enquiry into Mkhwebane’s fitness to hold office.

The subsequent report recommended that she be removed from office and this was adopted by a majority in the National Assembly on Monday.

“The National Assembly resolved with the requisite two-thirds majority that Advocate Mkhwebane be removed from the Office of the Public Protector for misconduct and incompetence.

“Section 194(3)(b) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa stipulates that when the National Assembly adopts a resolution for the removal of the Public Protector, the President “must” remove the Public Protector from the office.

“Accordingly, President Ramaphosa has informed Advocate Mkhwebane of the action to remove her from the Office of the Public Protector,” the Presidency said in a statement.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile will today brief members of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on a range of issues related to government efforts to implement rapid response interventions in municipalities and plans to tackle crime.

“As part of his delegated responsibilities, Deputy President Mashatile has been leading the implementation of rapid response interventions on service delivery, trouble-shooting service delivery hotspots, and monitoring the implementation of the District Development Model, which is an integrated planning model that government has adopted to fast-tracking service delivery,” said the Presidency in a statement.

Following the successful National Dialogue on Coalitions convened by the Deputy President, which took place in August at the University of the Western Cape, he will also brief members of the NCOP on emerging proposals aimed at stabilising coalitions within municipalities.

“In light of the persisting levels of violent crime in the country, Deputy President Mashatile will apprise members on government’s rapid response plans to tackle crime.”

He is also expected to update members of the NCOP on the country’s commitment and continued efforts to play a key role in the realisation of peace and stability in the region and the continent.