Cop held on conspiracy charges
October 13 2011 at 07:11pm
A Free State policeman has been arrested for conspiracy to commit murder,
the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) said on Thursday. He allegedly
tried to hire a hitman to kill a State witness, ICD spokesman Moses Dlamini
said in a statement. The officer was arrested on Wednesday night. Dlamini
said the witness and the policeman were connected to an ICD investigation
into the death of Thabo Amos Mofokeng, 47, after an assault at the Bethlehem

police station in December 2010. The policeman allegedly pushed Mofokeng,
and his head hit a pillar. Mofokeng died the next morning. The officer
failed to report the assault to his superiors. After an investigation, the
ICD established that Mofokeng's death was not an accident, Dlamini said. The

policeman appeared in court on January 18 and was charged with culpable
homicide. He was released on bail, and was warned to appear for his trial on

October 19. He was re-arrested this week after the ICD learned of
allegations that he was conspiring to have the State witness in the Mofokeng

investigation killed. He was expected to appear in Bethlehem Magistrate's
Court later on Thursday, Dlamini said.  www.iol.co.za

Twee mans dood in motors gevind
2011-10-13 20:58
Johannesburg – Twee mans is dood in hul motors gevind in Winkelspruit aan
die suidelike kus van KwaZulu-Natal, het die polisie gesê. Een is
doodgeskiet en die ander een is blykbaar verwurg, het Kol. Jay Naicker gesê.

Die eerste lyk, van ‘n 36-jarige man, is Woensdag op die N2-snelweg gevind.
“Sy broeksakke was uitgekeer, wat daarop dui dat hy beroof is,” het Naicker
gesê. Die man is in die kop geskiet. Die tweede lyk is op die Old South
Road, naby die N2, gevind. “Die oorledene is Donderdag op die agtersitplek
van sy motor gevind met wurgmerke aan sy nek. Ons weet nie of enigiets by
hom gesteel is nie,” het Naicker gesê. “Daar is niks wat die twee moorde
verbind nie. Hulle het net naby aan mekaar gebeur.”  Beeld

Car syndicate hits Alberton
13 October 2011
Zelda Viljoen
A car theft syndicate emerged in Alberton. On the afternoon of October 8, a
Mazda double cab bakkie was stolen from Reading Country Club. On the
afternoon of October 8, a Mazda double cab bakkie was stolen from Reading
Country Club. The men posed as normal day visitors to enter the club and
then went into the men's change room where they stole the key for the Mazda,

as well as keys to a VW Passat. The stolen vehicle was later recovered in
Rosettenville after the suspects failed to remove the tracking device.
According to the owner of the VW Passat, he contacted his wife to bring him
a set of spare keys, he left the country club but soon realized he was being

followed by a white Volvo T5 and phoned the Alberton SAPS. Details of the
Volvo, was sent to CPS Security and the car was spotted on October 10 on
Ring Road East. A high speed chase took place and the car was pulled over in

Raceview with the help of the Alberton SAPS. Stolen goods were found in the
car along with the keys to the VW Passat and a Ford Fiesta. The suspect was
arrested at the scene. After further investigation two more suspects were
arrested the same day. Two of the suspects are aged 29 and another 26.
Investigations revealed that the suspects were wanted in connection with six

cases of theft at the McLaren Circus last week and approximately forty cases

of theft and car theft in surrounding areas. A reliable source told the
RECORD that one of the suspects declared they only did it for a rush. Some
of the items recovered in the vehicle include cellphones, a Tomato watch,
laptops and car audio equipment. If anyone has any information, or claim, on

this case, please contact the Alberton SAPS on 011 907 9148 immediately.
www.looklocal.co.za  -  Alberton

Groep jaag weg met vrou se baba
2011-10-13 08:07
Charné Kemp
Kimberley. – ’n 18 maande oue seuntjie is naby die Shell Ultra City op die
N12-hoofweg ontvoer nadat hy en sy ma geryloop en opgelaai is. Konst. Sergio

Kock, polisiewoordvoerder, sê die eenheid teen gesinsgeweld en seksuele
misdade en vir kinderbeskerming het ’n grootskeepse soektog begin. “Die
voorval het omstreeks 19:35 Dinsdag gebeur. “Sy 28-jarige ma, Amanda Linda
Msimanga, oorspronklik van Soweto, sê sy was op pad van Vryburg na
Kimberley. Sy moes haar man in Kimberley ontmoet. “Hulle sou van hier saam
na Bloemfontein vertrek.” Volgens haar is sy en haar kind deur drie mense in

’n wit Toyota Corolla opgelaai. Hulle het Afrikaans met mekaar gepraat. ’n
Man en vrou het voor gesit en ’n derde man agter by haar en die kind. “Toe
hulle naby die vulstasie was, het die bestuurder afgetrek. Hy het haar
beveel om uit die motor te klim. Voordat sy haar kind kon uithaal, het hulle

weggejaag.” Die seuntjie, Buhle, was geklee in ’n rooi en groen sweetpak.
Die bestuurder het ’n donker gelaat en het ’n swart broek en wit en blou
hemp aangehad. Hy dra ’n groen pet. Die vrouepassasier het ligbruin
gelaatstrekke en het ’n goue en bruin tradisionele rok aangehad. Die ander
man het ’n kakiebroek en bruin hemp aangehad. Die blitspatrollie en honde-
en opsporingseenheid het die omgewing deur die nag en Woensdag gefynkam.
Enigiemand met inligting kan ao. Elizma Roos by 082 566 4512 bel.  Volksblad

Kidnapped, raped teen found
October 13 2011 at 11:18am
A 16-year-old girl who was kidnapped, allegedly by her father, and raped has

been found on a farm outside Grahamstown, Eastern Cape police said on
Thursday. “She is severely traumatised,” Captain Mali Govender said. “Police

received a report of a missing girl on Sunday and it was later discovered
that she was kidnapped by her biological father.” She had reported a case of

rape and assault against her father before the incident, Govender said. The
teenager was found around noon on Tuesday at a farm where she was being held

hostage. By the time the police arrived, her father had left.  www.iol.co.za

Man moved to Gauteng after rape ‘admissions’
October 13 2011 at 05:18pm
A suspected serial rapist who admitted to kidnapping and murdering Florida
high school pupil Louise de Waal is being brought back to Gauteng, police
said on Thursday. “He handed himself in at the Margate police station (in
KwaZulu-Natal), this morning,” acting Gauteng police commissioner
Major-General Nobesuthu Masiya told reporters in Joburg. Police spokesman
Lieutenant-Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said KwaZulu-Natal police questioned the

man and “certain admissions have been made (by him)”. He said police were
not sure whether the admissions would culminate in a formal confession.
“There are a number of things that still have to be done. He was on the run,

but is currently in transit back to Gauteng,” he said. “When arrives, we
will see where things go from there.” Masiya said Warrant Officer Peet du
Toit, who headed up the investigation into the kidnapping of the 17-year-old

De Waal, got hold of the man through his brother, and persuaded him to hand
himself over. The man was allegedly linked to nine cases of rape and one of
murder, she said. The crimes were attributed to a man nicknamed the “Sunday
rapist”. “He has not yet confessed to the other rapes and the murder,”
Masiya said. Du Toit said the man's modus operandi matched the Sunday
rapist's. “The man usually goes out to prowl on Sunday between 10 (am) and 1

(pm) in certain suburbs in Gauteng and the North West, and looks for girls
between the ages of 10 and 17,” he said. “He then drives 20 or 30km away and

rapes the girls. He often takes mementos from them like head-bands or
panties.” Masiya said the man, in his 30s, had a previous conviction for
sexual assault. “He was arrested in 2007, convicted and sentenced to three
years in prison. The sentence was suspended for three years. He spent time
doing community service.” Masiya confirmed that a burnt body was found at a
farm in Magaliesburg on Wednesday afternoon, but said police were awaiting
forensic results before it could be identified. De Waal was kidnapped at
gunpoint while walking to school in White Ridge, Florida, west of Joburg, on

Wednesday morning.  www.iol.co.za

Confessions of a car hijacker
13 Oct 2011
Vuyi Jabavu
"My family knew but never discouraged me"  I'VE always wondered how I could
best protect myself against being hijacked. So much so that the fear of
being hijacked has forced me to carefully choose the car I want to own. In a

quest to satisfy my (sometimes unhealthy) sense of curiosity, I secured an
interview with a reformed car hijacker, whose reformation came by way of a
car accident that left him paralysed from the waist down. Being
wheelchair-bound had given Jack (not his real name) time to reflect on the
impact his past life has had on other people. It wasn't difficult to get an
interview with Jack. His contact arranged the interview in a surprisingly
short time. All too soon the day rolled by and, to my astonishment the only
thing I could think of was what to wear. For once I opted not to wear heels,

just in case I had to run! The meeting point was in a part of town with a
reputation of being a crime-infested spot. As luck would have it, I parked
in the wrong place. Three menacing- looking men stared at me in disbelief,
while simultaneously reaching for their pockets. Then Jack's mediator, Adam,

appeared and hurriedly motioned me to park closer to him. And I felt it was
best to comply. I had earlier formed a profile of the former car hijacker in

my mind but on meeting Jack I discovered he was not of diminutive frame and
soft-spoken as I thought he'd turn out to be. He had two cellphones, and
fidgeted with them constantly. It dawned on me that both of us were nervous,

though for completely different reasons. We opted to conduct our interview
while driving so as not to attract attention by being together in one place.

As we ventured out I wondered if Jack was armed. Too late for that, I mused,

but what if I ended up as a car hijacking statistic while trying to pick the

mind of a car hijacker? I was in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, sitting less
than an arm's length from a car hijacker - reformed or not. They say old
habits die hard. I asked Jack why he used to hijack cars. He said that the
allure of quick and easy cash had been too much to resist. He had started a
life of crime when he was only 17 years old as a means to support his
family. In the area he grew up in the only role models were people who
committed crime. Finding work in a white neighbourhood was an option but
Jack felt that working for a "pittance" wasn't for him. Jack had been
involved in and exposed to this lifestyle for more than 20 years at the time

and had been too immersed in it to have willingly dispensed with it. Jack
said many more cars were hijacked for spare parts than for resale and that
it all started with a driver who is unlicensed, uninsured or simply not
willing to report an accident to their insurer for fear of paying a high
excess. It also involved mechanics and panelbeaters, who were not willing to

incur the costs involved inf buying parts. According to Jack the scenario
is: A "boss" (person whom the panelbeater contacts for spare parts) places
an "order" for a particular vehicle through the country's nationwide car
hijacker network. The stolen car, called a "parcel", is "sourced" by the
network and once the "order" is fulfilled, the boss sends out a cancellation

order, thereby ensuring that he does not end up with more than one parcel.
Different parcels sell for different prices and it was interesting to learn
that most cars that can be stolen when stationary fetched a lower price than

cars that "need" to be hijacked. Once the parcel is in hand, it is stripped,

effectively reducing it to hundreds of spare parts. One parcel can be used
as parts for many similar cars, especially those that are not traceable.
Many factors play a role in the pricing of parcels, including availability,
scarcity of the particular model and the risk involved. Jack was quick to
point out that different hijackers used different modus operandi and that
client needs differed. But the general rule was first-come-first-paid. Not
all vehicle thefts can be categorised as hijackings, Jack said. He seemed
disgusted by the fact that his specialised craft was belittled by petty
thieves. He mentioned that some car thieves simply shadowed people in
shopping malls and other leisure areas with the intention of stealing their
jewellery, cash and bank cards. These criminals follow the shoppers out of
the car park and relieve them of their belongings, so "hijacked" cars are
sometimes found abandoned not too far from the place they were stolen. When
asked if car hijackers targeted women, Jack's response was an emphatic no,
but he added he was not speaking on behalf of all hijackers. He said his
team had not targeted women, especially those with children since mothers
were too unpredictable for their liking. Though he didn't articulate it I
sensed what he was really saying was that mothers' maternal instincts often
endangered a "job" and resulted in injuries or death. Apart from mothers
with children in cars, everyone else was fair game. If you happened to be
driving a car that had been ordered you were a target. I asked why car
hijackers often kidnapped the drivers, and Jack's answer was rather a
surprising one. If the hijackers let you go before they have located the
tracking system, Jack said, the driver will have an opportunity to activate
the tracker, meaning the hijackers' efforts will count for nothing.
According to Jack it took about 10 minutes to locate the tracking system in
a car. Those first 10 minutes after a vehicle has been hijacked are critical

and could be the difference between life and death. I got the distinct
feeling that he meant it was at this point that most hijack victims were at
risk of ending up dead. I asked Jack how car hijackers went about finding a
"parcel" and he painstakingly schooled me in the art of "scouting". A group
of youths would venture into a neighbourhood in search of their target. The
actual market value of the vehicle would determine in which suburb they
conducted their search, though in some cases his team would cross provincial

borders to fulfil an order. The scouts would steal a small inconspicuous
vehicle, change the number plates, and drive around until they identified
their target. They would establish the driver's routine by following them
for a few days. Jack suggested that drivers should be vigilant at all times
and constantly change the routes they use to and from work. He said
motorists should use their rear-view and side mirrors often when driving.
"Make a few turns here and there," he suggested. "If the car behind you
makes the same turns you need to be aware that someone could be following
you". Jack said drivers who were easily distracted made for easy targets,
especially those who talk on cell phones while driving. "Rather drive to the

nearest police station and if the car behind you drives past then you know
you have to readjust your travel pattern." Jack told me proudly he had a
wife and children. They were aware of what he did for a living and had never

discouraged him from doing it. At a minimum of R300,000 a job he could
afford to send his children to private schools and did not lack for
anything. As a parting question I asked him why the community had never
handed him over to the police, to which he replied that a sense of loyalty
in communities was sometimes higher than the sense of civic duty, especially

if the community was not at risk from criminal activities. It came as little

comfort that Jack explained that members of the police force and other
authorities were part of the hijacking networks since they provided
legitimate paperwork where needed. As I watched Jack wheel himself along the

dusty path, my mind set about to finding and interviewing someone who might
have been a victim of a car hijacking.  Sowetan

Serial killer gets 14 life terms
October 13 2011 at 07:09pm
Serial killer, rapist and robber Sello Alfred Phalane was given 14 life
sentences by the Middelburg High Court on Thursday, Limpopo police said. The

52-year-old was found guilty on five counts of murder, five counts of rape
and four counts of robbery, Lieutenant-Colonel Mohale Ramatseba said. “The
sentences will run concurrently.” Acting Limpopo commissioner Major-General
Benny Ntlemeza, welcomed the ruling. “The sentence will serve as a deterrent

to would-be killers, rapists and robbers.” Phalane raped, robbed and killed
five women between 2008 and 2009 in the Dennilton area. His first victim,
Eva Lekalakala, 41, was killed in June 2008. Her remains were found at
Spitpunt, in Dennilton. She was identified through DNA tests. Josephine
Manamela, 38, was killed in August 2008 and her decomposed body found at Ga
Maria village. In February 2009, the naked body of an unknown woman, aged
around 30, was found in the bushes at Driefontein in Dennilton. His fourth
victim, Margaret Seretlo, 41, was found at Driefontein July 2009, as was his

fifth victim Elizabeth Kobe, 36. Phalane was arrested while selling CDs at a

minibus taxi rank in Zebediela in September 2009.  www.iol.co.za

Cop accused of stealing docket
October 13 2011 at 12:39pm
A police officer has appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrate's Court in Durban

for allegedly stealing a docket, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Thursday. The
Bayview police captain was arrested on Wednesday when it came to light that
she tried to help her colleagues avoid getting arrested by allegedly
quashing a docket, said Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Mdunge. The charge
related to a police operation in July. Two police officers conducted a raid
after receiving information about drugs being kept in a house in Bayview,
Mdunge said. The officers were accused of taking a R2 500 bribe from a man
allegedly dealing in dagga, and of stealing his cellphone. A case was
reported to the captain at the Bayview police station. She ordered the
officers to return the money and allegedly stole the case docket. She had
been charged with defeating the ends of justice and was released on R500
bail. “The two police officers pleaded guilty when they were arrested in
July. “They are going back to the Chatsworth Magistrate's Court on October
18 for sentencing,” Mdunge said. The captain would appear again in court on
October 20.  www.iol.co.za

Minister condemns spate of child murders
2011-10-13 22:39
Johannesburg - A recent spate of child murder cases in South Africa was met
with outrage by the minister of women, children and people with disabilities

on Thursday. “The barbaric actions of child abusers and murderers have no
place in our democratic society," said Lulu Xingwana in a statement. She
said the net was closing on perpetrators of child abuse, with her department

working closely with law enforcement agencies. Xingwana was satisfied with
the police's reintroduction of the family violence, child protection and
sexual offences units. “Child murderers will have no place to hide as more
and more of them will continue to face the full might of the law,” she said.

On Wednesday morning, schoolgirl Louise de Waal was kidnapped at gun-point
as she walked to school in Roodepoort, Gauteng. A badly burnt body - widely
believed to be De Waal's - was found on a farm in Magaliesburg later in the
day. Last Friday, a three-year-old boy's butchered body was found stuffed
into a suitcase in his next-door neighbour's house at Gugulethu in the
Western Cape. Just over a month ago, two sisters, 8 and 12, were stabbed in
Khayelitsha, also in the Western Cape. The younger girl died from her
injuries. Police said they could not rule out the possibility that the girls

had been raped. Xingwana appealed to the public to work with the police to
ensure child abusers were rooted out of society.  www.news24.com

Cele slammed over gun control ‘nightmare’
October 13 2011 at 12:05pm
Political Bureau
NATIONAL police commissioner General Bheki Cele and his top cops were
slammed by Parliament’s police oversight committee yesterday over the state
of the service, with the chair of the committee describing its firearms
control as a “nightmare”. In the past five years, 11 935 SAPS firearms have
been lost or stolen. As the police top brass were being grilled, Police
Minister Nathi Mthethwa said in a written parliamentary reply that one-third

(91 191) of SAPS firearms still needed to be marked to clearly identify them

as police weapons, making it nearly impossible to keep track of and recover
stolen or lost firearms. Committee chairwoman Sindi Chikunga said the
problem was rooted in the fact that “there are no consequences for doing
wrong”. “If you go to a police station just ask for the firearm register, it

will be signed by Sindi, Dianne or whoever.” Neither the firearms register
nor the safe was being managed properly, she said, with junior officers
having access to the weapons. “Firearms are not being controlled at police
station level, national police commissioner, what I’m saying is firearms
control, it’s a real nightmare, simply put. There’s a serious lack of the
very basic principles of management.” Cele, Hawks boss Anwa Dramat and a
contingent of top cops appeared before the committee to discuss their annual

report. MPs also heard that 3 461 of South Africa’s 24 000 detectives were
employed despite not having gone for investigative training.  Cape Argus

Cops nab illegal credit providers
October 13 2011 at 09:11pm
Police arrested six people in a clampdown on illegal credit providers in the

Eastern Cape, the National Credit Regulator said on Thursday. “They were
found in possession of pension cards, ID books, 297 bank cards and pin
numbers,” said Jan Augustyn, NCR manager for investigations and enforcement.

He said the operation was targeting credit providers who compelled consumers

to hand over their cards as surety. Augustyn said similar operations would
be conducted in other parts of the country, “mainly in rural communities
where we believe people are more vulnerable and easily exploited”. The SA
Social Security Agency (SASSA) advised consumers not to leave their pension
cards with micro-lenders as they would battle to get their social grants
without the cards. The two-day operation was conducted by the NCR, SASSA and

the National Prosecuting Authority.  Pretoria News

Muslims lose a fortune in Hajj scam
October 13 2011 at 11:13am
By Vincent Cruywagen
Up to 1 000 Cape Muslims have lost around R33 million in a Hajj visa scam.
The full extent of the scandal is unmasked in a Daily Voice investigation
into the Mecca rip-off. A senior local imam is under investigation for his
role in the scandal and a Flats tour operator – Faizal Moos from
Al-Sabireen – has been implicated. The scandal has devastated hundreds of
Muslim families. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and each year

millions of Muslims around the world undertake the once-in-a-lifetime
pilgrimage to Mecca, many spending their life’s savings to fulfil their duty

to Allah. In the scam, each individual paid an exorbitant R3 000 to tour
operators for ill-sourced visas. But before they could qualify for the
visas, they had to fork out between R25 000 and R40 000 on Hajj packages.
This means each of the 1 000 or so pilgrims caught in the scandal lost an
average of R33 000 to cover the cost of the failed trip to Mecca. Now the
victims have vowed to bring the unscrupulous Hajj operators to justice. They

have formed The Friends of the Hajj (FotH) to pursue a class action against
those responsible. More than 100 angry victims gathered at a heated meeting
on Tuesday night in Silvertown to discuss their options. The group is led by

Imraahn Mukaddam – the shopkeeper who took on the bread giants in a
price-fixing scandal. He told the Daily Voice the scam operators must be
held liable. “Those responsible for throwing the Hajj industry into turmoil,

misrepresenting Muslims and robbing them of their holy journey must be held
accountable,” he says. And he urged all of those who have lost money in the
scandal not to be afraid to tackle the Hajj operators in court. “Please
people, this is a very sensitive case. Don’t turn your back on us when you
are called to testify,” Mukaddam says. “This whole scandal is unacceptable
and despicable. “If irregularities are uncovered, those responsible must be
charged criminally. We will also ask the Competition Commission to
investigate any price-fixing in the Hajj industry.” Notably absent from
Tuesday night’s meeting were the implicated Imam, Moos, the Muslim Judicial
Council and the SA Hajj and Umrah Council (Sahuc). Moos admitted this week
to the Daily Voice that he had dealings with a source in Saudi Arabia who
had arranged Hajj visas. But the deal flopped and the visas Moos applied for

were blocked. Pilgrims who paid their packages are now demanding Moos refund

their money. “I’ll pay back every cent to Hujjaj,” Moos vowed. Sahuc, who
administer and keep a watchful eye over the whole visa process with the
Saudi embassy in Pretoria, say they are investigating. “The cases are sub
judice and we cannot give comment at this stage,” Sahuc secretary general
Shaheen Essop tells the Daily Voice. Every year the Saudi embassy allocates
3 000 Hajj visas free of charge to South African Muslims. But this year,
more applications kept flowing in – even after this number of visas had been

allocated. Irregularities soon became clear and the embassy placed a
moratorium on the issuing of visas. Initial investigations revealed two Cape

Town operators bypassed Sahuc and the embassy to obtain Hajj visas. One
operator allegedly got hold of foreign Hajj visas and sold them at R3 000
each to unsuspecting pilgrims. The Daily Voice has learned a second Cape
Town operator had direct dealings with a source in Saudi Arabia. Now Sahuc,
along with the Saudi Embassy and authorities, are trying to get their hands
on the Saudi Ministry source. The Sahuc also came under fire at Tuesday’s
meeting. The Daily Voice has learned Sahuc do not have permission from the
SA government to negotiate on behalf of South African Muslims with the Saudi

Hajj Ministry. “FotH will ask the South African government to suspend the
recognition of Sahuc and that a transparent body for the entire Southern
Africa be established,” Riyaad Bosch from Hajj Watch told pilgrims at the
meeting. “The Public Protector informed us that the protocol document that
Sahuc is waving about [stating] they have the right to negotiate on behalf
of Muslims with Saudi Arabia, is not a legitimate document.” At this stage
there is no police investigation into the matter. * If you’ve been a victim,