Category: News

The police’s multi-disciplinary high-density four-day Operation Shanela, which kicked off on Thursday in Kimberley and in other areas, focused on reducing contact and violent crimes, as well as property related crimes in hotspots areas.

Actions and police activities executed during the operations included vehicle check points (VCP’s), stop and searches, foot and vehicle patrols, compliance inspections, drugs and other commodities smuggling.

Nineteen VCP’s and eleven roadblocks were conducted across the province during which 2049 vehicles and 4700 persons were stopped and searched. at least 318 compliance inspections were executed at second-hand dealers, liquor premises, formal and informal businesses as well as farms.

Numerous operational successes were achieved and these include:

• Arrests of 356 suspects for contravening the firearms controls act, possession of dangerous weapons, attempted murder, robbery, assault, burglary, theft out of motor vehicle, driving under the influence of alcohol, malicious damage to property, dealing and possession of drugs as well as illegal dealing in liquor.
• 20 undocumented immigrants were also apprehended and detained.
• 184 wanted suspects were traced and arrested by detective teams in all five districts as follows: 60 in Frances Baard, 24 in John Taolo Gaetsewe, 27 in Pixley Ka Seme, 44 in ZF Mgcawu and 29 in Namakwa district.

Prior to the  quarterly review session on 26 /27 July 2023 in Kimberley, the 91 station commissioners from across the province participated in high density police actions in the greater Kimberley area.

The station commanders as well as provincial components were led by the Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Policing, Major General Luntu Ngubelanga.

Numerous seizures including dagga, copper cables, alcohol and homemade brew, numerous dangerous weapons and cash believed to be the proceeds of crime were made.

The Provincial Commissioner of the Northern Cape, Lt General Koliswa Otola indicated that Operation Shanela will continue to stamp down the authority of the state in an endeavour to reclaim communities from criminals and restore the trust of the public in the police.

She also appreciated the efforts of the SAPS members, the external role-players and the community policing structures for their unabated efforts in fighting crime collectively.

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, has welcomed the conviction of a Gauteng couple, Gerald and Elisha van der Westhuizen, for their role in the smuggling of reptiles from South Africa.

“The conviction and sentencing demonstrate the important work being undertaken in implementing the National Integrated Strategy to Combat Wildlife Trafficking with a focus on disrupting transnational organised crime, and targeting the value chain and financial crimes linked to the illegal wildlife trade,” the Minister said on Thursday.

The Gauteng couple was linked to two German nationals, who were earlier convicted of smuggling lizards and other reptiles from South Africa, through an analysis by the Environmental Enforcement Fusion Centre.

An analysis of WhatsApp messages found that Gerald van der Westhuizen had on three occasions illegally sent Sungazer lizards to Germany and Mexico.

The couple was sentenced in the Kempton Park Regional Court on Monday. Gerald was sentenced to a fine of R1 million, half of which was suspended for five years, on condition that he is not convicted of a similar offence; while Elisha was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment.

The sentence has been wholly suspended for five years on condition that she is not convicted of Contravening the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA). 

The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, has sent a strong warning to community members about hitchhiking.

This comes after an incident, where a 28-year-old man was robbed of cash and his cellphone in the bushes along R81 road, Xukukwami village at Giyani Policing area.

According to the police report, the incident took place on Tuesday when the victim was allegedly hitchhiking at the traffic lights of Siyandhani along R81 going to Malamulele, when a silver Datsun car with two occupants, including the driver, stopped.

The victim, together with another man was offered a lift, and on the way, the driver told the occupants that he needed to pass by the nearby bushes to buy firewood.

While at the bushes, the driver allegedly stopped the vehicle and everyone, including the other hitchhiker threatened the victim with a knife and firearms, demanding money.

“The three suspects, robbed him off a cell phone and money. They also tried to access funds from his bank account through an App but it was insufficient.

“They pushed him out of the vehicle and drove off at a high speed. The victim immediately notified the police and a manhunt to arrest the suspects was launched,” Lieutenant General Hadebe said.

Hadebe warned people against hitchhiking, and emphasised that it is safer and more reliable to use public transport.

“People can avoid becoming victims in the hands of these ruthlessness and heartless criminals by making use of public Transport. Your precious life is more valuable so, take it seriously,” Hadebe said.

Hadebe said a case of robbery with a firearm has been opened and the investigation is underway.

He urged anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects to contact Detective Warrant Officer Hobyani at 071 1637 272 or crime stop number 08600 10111, or contact the nearest police station or MySAPSApp.

The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, has strongly condemned the brutal murder of a five year-old girl, allegedly by her cousin.

On Tuesday afternoon, police and paramedics received information about the body of a child found in the bushes.

Upon arrival at the scene, they found the lifeless body of the little girl with her throat slit, as well as stab wounds on her upper body.

She was certified dead by the medical personnel on the scene and police have opened a murder case.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the girl left home with her male cousin to a nearby tuck shop to buy some snacks.

However, the cousin returned alone without the little girl, saying that she had gone to play with other children in the neighbourhood.

However, the family was concerned that something could have happened to the child and they began searching for her until they made the gruesome discovery of her body in the nearby bushes. They immediately alerted the authorities.

Police in Bushbuckridge arrested the suspect on the same day and charged him with murder.

The suspect is expected to appear in the Bushbuckrigde Magistrates’ Court soon. Investigations are ongoing. It is not yet clear if the girl was raped or not, and that will form part of the probe.

Manamela urged parents and guardians to be vigilant with their children.

“It is disheartening and disappointing to learn that some family members are found to be the ones allegedly perpetrating crimes against children, whereas they have been entrusted to safeguard them,” she said.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has welcomed a decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal to dismiss two appeals by a company seeking to validate its business rescue procedures.

The company, PFC Properties and its trust, the De Robillard Family Trust, owed SARS at least R148 million and failed to pay the amount and instead went into business rescue and sold its assets for far below market value.

The assets included a R45 million yacht which was sold for R12 million, another yacht valued at R13 million sold for R570 000 and R50 million value house sold for R11.3 million.

The revenue collector’s commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, condemned the use of business rescue processes in an attempt to avoid paying taxes.

“It was unfortunate that some taxpayers abuse the business rescue proceedings, to the detriment of creditors. In most instances, the fiscus is the main victim.

“SARS will continue to act firmly and decisively when business rescue proceedings are abused to the detriment of the fiscus. We will without any equivocation oppose such abusive applications,” Kieswetter said.

SARS explained the reasons why the court dismissed the applications.

“The issue before the SCA was whether the conduct on the part of PFC and the De Robillard Family Trust’s trustees in launching the business rescue application, constituted an abuse of court process. The SCA held that that application should not have been considered by reason of its use in a scheme of abuse. The Court held that the business rescue application was a stratagem.

“Consequently, the business rescue application could not suspend the liquidation application because the former was tainted by abuse. Apart from this, the De Robillard Family Trust’s trustees failed to make out a case that there was any prospect of rescuing PFC. All its assets had been sold-off and it had lost its substratum. The SCA further held that the liquidation order granted by the Pretoria High Court was unassailable. For these reasons, both appeals were dismissed with costs,” SARS said.

The revenue collector vowed to clamp down on any attempts to avoid paying what is due to the taxman.

“SARS will not stand idle when taxpayers abuse the mechanisms of the Companies Act by acting malignantly to deprive SARS what is due and payable to the fiscus. Any elaborate and carefully calibrated plans to withhold taxes will be resisted emphatically.

“SARS will always work in the manner that supports the growth of the economy with concomitant job creation. Where, for whatever reason businesses do not perform optimally and they are unviable, every role player in the process is duty bound to act professionally and without fear, favour or prejudice against any creditors,” the revenue service said.

Eskom has warned members of the public not to fall for job scams purportedly related to vacancies at its power stations, with the latest scam targeting the Medupi Power Station.

According to the power utility, scammers lure unsuspecting victims to interviews in Gauteng and are asked to pay for accommodation and other fees.

“As part of the modus operandi, job seekers are advised to bring money for expenses, such as accommodation and transport, to Lephalale where Medupi Power Station is located. In some instances, the unsuspecting job seekers are required to deposit more money into a bank account for other expenses such as personal protective equipment (PPE) or medical assessment following the interviews, among other reasons.

“Eskom advises job seekers to be aware that vacancies in the organisation are on its recruitment website which can be accessed by visiting www.eskom.co.za and cautions job seekers against using any other links found on the internet. Under no circumstances will Eskom require any payment from applicants during its recruitment process,” the power utility said.

Eskom said that, together with law enforcement, it has instituted an investigation with arrests subsequently made.

“Upon receiving several complaints from members of the public about the recruitment scam at Medupi, Eskom launched a joint operation with the South African Police Service (SAPS), which led to the arrest of three suspects — two females and a male accomplice.

“The suspects were charged at the Douglasdale Police Station on 26 June 2023 and appeared at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on 28 June 2023. They will appear again at the same court on 16 August 2023,” Eskom said.

Members of the public who may have fallen victim to the scam are encouraged to contact Colonel Naidoo on 082 820 6174 or SAPS on 08600 10111 or SMS the Eskom Crime Line on 32211.

Eskom has announced that it will be taking over the implementation of load shedding in the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) following what the power utility called the city’s failure to reduce load on its customers.

The city had been handling the load shedding of some customers after the power utility handed over some substations for management.

The power utility said it has been monitoring the city’s load reduction.

“The CoE failed to comply by not adhering to the NRS 048-9:2019 code of practice which requires electricity distributor licence holders to reduce load during a declaration of a system emergency.

“The decision to take over load shedding in Ekurhuleni follows monitoring and analysis conducted by Eskom which indicate that CoE is not reducing the load as per NRS 048-9:2019,” Eskom said.

The electricity provider said it has, in the past, engaged with Ekurhuleni “regarding its failure to load shed its customers”.

“The power utility has taken over this role of load shedding the CoE’s customers following its contravention of the requirements of the standard in the past. At the time, the CoE was only permitted to load shed all the substations that feed critical loads. Subsequently, upon the CoE’s request, Eskom handed over the implementation of load shedding of all the CoE customers to the municipality,” Eskom said.

The power utility emphasised that it has no alternative in the matter as a failure to load shed puts increased burden on the grid.

“Although Eskom notes the CoE’s technical challenges in executing load shedding, it is left with no choice but to implement load shedding for the CoE as the non-compliance puts further strain on the already constrained national grid. Failure to implement load shedding by municipalities affects the integrity and stability of the grid which may lead to higher stages of load shedding.

“Residential and industrial customers from the City of Ekurhuleni are urged to contact the municipality directly for the city’s load shedding schedule or to visit their website…as Eskom uses the city’s schedule.

“Eskom appeals to members of the public to to assist in reducing demand by switching off non-essential appliances such as geysers and pool pumps as this lowers demand and helps in alleviating the pressure on the power system and contributes to lower stages of load shedding,” the power utility said.

Meanwhile, the City of Ekurhuleni says it will be engaging the power utility on the matter.

“The city will be engaging Eskom not to shed some of our critical substations in areas with a high concentration of large industries, because this will not only impact the economy of the region but also threatens jobs.

“The city will be proposing load curtailment during negotiation with Eskom. Load curtailment is the load reduction obtained from customers who can reduce demand on instruction. This also means that in the event of an emergency declaration, industrial customers must be able to reduce their load by a certain percentage,” the CoE said.

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, announced on Tuesday that South Africa recorded another imported laboratory-confirmed case of cholera from a 24-year-old South African man with a travel history from Karachi, Pakistan.

According to the statement released last night, the patient arrived in the country on 16 July from Pakistan, known to be cholera endemic, where he experienced abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea symptoms after a meal two days before.

“He reported that he had diarrhoea, but did not immediately seek medical attention while in Pakistan, and he only rehydrated himself using bottled water because he didn’t suspect any foodborne illness.”

However, upon arriving at King Shaka International Airport in Durban, he felt dehydrated and was taken to a private hospital to seek medical help.

According to the department, he was then admitted on 18 July while his specimen was sent to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) for laboratory testing.

“The results came back positive with cholera toxin on Monday, 24 July 2023. He has been discharged and recovering well at home.”

The outbreak response team, according to the department, has effected contact tracing and identified four family members and one friend he stayed with while in Pakistan.

“None of the contacts identified are presenting with cholera symptoms and are on continuous close monitoring. On the other hand, water samples were collected from the patient’s place of residence and taken for laboratory testing at the National Health Laboratory Service.”

According to the latest data, the total number of imported cholera cases now stands at three, following two infections detected in two people who travelled from Malawi early this year.

Meanwhile, the country has recorded a total cumulative number of 199 laboratory-confirmed cases since February this year.

The last positive case was recorded on 19 June in Hammanskraal under Tshwane District.

While the situation is under control from the recent cholera outbreak in some parts of the country, Phaahla has urged the public to stay alert and maintain a high level of personal hygiene to prevent possible transmission of waterborne and foodborne diseases.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile on Tuesday endorsed the five strategic areas recommended by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to fight the scourge of youth unemployment.

The report, developed by UNDP and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), highlights that youth unemployment is a defining development challenge that limits the earning potential of youth, stymies economic growth, threatens social cohesion, and puts pressure on public resources.

The South Africa National Human Development Report (SANHDR) 2022, highlighted the escalating youth unemployment, which stood at 61% for youth aged between 14 and 24 and 39.9% for those who are 25 to 34 years old, according to the latest data.

This is while the overall national unemployment rate is sitting at 32.7%.

However, figures mask significant disparities among provinces, with rates ranging from 22.5% in the Western Cape to as high as 42.4% in the Eastern Cape.

Speaking at the launch of the report named ‘Harnessing the Employability of South Africa’s Youth’, the Deputy President said it was obvious that government’s efforts to empower young people must be premised on a growing and inclusive economy.

He told the delegates the state approves the comprehensive strategies proposed in the report to tackle youth unemployment.

These include urgent prioritisation of public sector investment in education and skills development as well as scaling up initiatives that harness youth participation in the economy.

The document has also called for developing one-stop job services that consolidate existing tools and services, expanding youth entrepreneurship in technology-based and green industries, women’s economic empowerment and strengthening and expanding the National Youth Service to bridge the school-to-work gap.

“We agree with the UNDP when you say, ‘There is no doubt that the high unemployment rate is a ticking time bomb’,” he said.

“Accordingly, in addressing youth unemployment, the country will simultaneously address poverty and income inequality. Addressing and tackling youth joblessness is not only sound economics but also a development imperative.”

He assured the guests that the government was pursuing several youth empowerment programmes.

These, according to the country’s second-in-command, include the Youth Employment Service Programme, part of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, which has already provided over 100 000 jobs.

He also spoke about the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI), the Public Service Graduate Internship and Learnership Programme and the National Rural Youth Service Corps Programme.

“Evidently, the challenge is not one of a lack of programmes. It is one about the effectiveness, acceleration and massification of our programmes.”

He acknowledged that government needs to address “leakages” throughout the public policy system.

“For example, the report we are launching found that those without a matric qualification make up a significant proportion of the youth unemployment rate at around 40%, in contrast with only 13% of graduates who are unemployed.”

Meanwhile, he said government still needs to understand factors that lead to dropouts throughout the schooling system.

“Implicit in this fact is a deficit of skills and exposure for the young person who does not possess a matric. This means that our interventions have to be more specific and targeted, considering the urban-rural divide, race, gender and the availability of opportunities.”

He believes that the quality of the tuition in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges also needs to be examined.

“To derive maximum benefits to the enormous public resources we are expending into this important sector. None of us needs any tutelage about the importance of skills development.”

He pointed out that South Africa will host the BRICS Future Skills Challenge, in which young people from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will compete to show solutions to the 21st century’s most pressing challenges.

The skill areas include aircraft maintenance, building information modelling, cyber security, data science, drones, robotics, mobile app development, renewable energy and robotic process automation.

“It goes without saying that to compete amongst the BRICS nations and the world on a sustained and sustainable basis, we cannot but empower the youth with the wherewithal to acquire the skills of the 21st century.”

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) says the Competition Tribunal’s conditional approval of the Takatso Consortium’s intention to acquire 51% of South African Airways (SAA) is a significant step in making the state owned airline competitive and profitable.

The tribunal announced its decision on Tuesday “subject to conditions involving a moratorium on retrenchments and divestiture of the shareholding by the minority shareholders in the Takatso consortium”.

DPE Minister Pravin Gordhan has hailed the decision.

“The approval by the Competition Tribunal also sends a very strong message about the extent of the hard work that has gone into this transaction, considering that SAA was on the brink of liquidation. The steps we have taken will ensure that SAA is returned to profitability and sustainability,” the Minister said.

Gordhan highlighted that a well capacitated SAA has the capability of boosting the country’s economy.

“With this decision, the Competition Tribunal has affirmed our belief as government that a revitalised and a well-capitalised SAA presents the country with significant opportunities to boost economic connectivity and strategic reach that should benefit our economy and our people for years to come,” he said.

The Minister emphasised that the airline’s turnaround serves as a beacon for what state owned companies can achieve when given the right framework.

“I am confident that the repositioning of SAA sets a very good example of what can be achieved when the right financial and operational framework is given to state owned companies so they can fulfil their mandate to advance our economic transformation and development as a country.

“It is very gratifying to see that we are on the verge of having SAA finally infused with the requisite strategic vision, expertise, and capital by Takatso,” Gordhan said.