Squeeze In Spar manager’s ear cut off during robbery
18 October 2011
Zelda Viljoen On October 16 at 20:56 a robbery took place at Squeeze In Spar

in Alberton North where an undisclosed amount of money was stolen. The
manager was doing his daily cash up when three suspects entered Spar
demanding that he should open the safe. The manager tried to convince the
suspects that there is no cash when they pinned him down and cut off his
ear. A trusted source told the RECORD that his ear was hanging by a thin
piece of skin. Five minutes after the panic button was pressed ADT security
arrived at the scene. Apparently the security guard was hit on the head with

a blunt object and one of the suspects tried to take his gun. The firearm
went off during the struggle, wounding the suspect in the stomach. Police
state the gun fell to the floor where a second suspect picked it up and ran
from the scene. The wounded suspect was arrested by police on the scene when

he tried to convince them that he was only an innocent bystander. The ADT
reaction officer positively identified the suspect as one of the robbers.
The suspect was taken to hospital and is in a critical condition. Squeeze In

Spar’s manager was also rushed to hospital but no further information on his

condition was available at the time of going to print. The stolen firearm
was recovered on a street corner not far from the crime scene and a second
suspect was arrested while a third still remains at large.  www.looklocal  -

Alberton

Man jumps to his death
18 October 2011
Lucky Thusi A handcuffed man jumped to his death from the first floor of
Southgate Mall on Saturday October 15. According to an eyewitness, the man
apparently stole a cucumber from one of the store and he was caught by the
security personnel. He was then handcuffed. While they were escorting him to

the storeroom, he freed himself from the security guard and jumped from the
first floor. "The question is how did he manage to do that while he was
handcuffed and held by security," asked the eyewitness who wants to remain
anonymous. He died on the scene. One bystander said, "The man stole a
trolley full of groceries and he was apprehended. I also blame the security
guards who were suppose to guard him." Carol Steele, Acting General Manager
Southgate Mall confirmed the incident. "On Saturday, October 15 at about
13:30, the Centre Management security office at Southgate Mall were alerted
of a suspect that had been caught stealing at the Woolworths store.
"Subsequently, following protocol, security escorted the suspect out of the
store for questioning. The suspect broke away from security, and in his
attempt to escape, jumped off the first floor, sustaining severe head trauma

on impact. The SAPS and the paramedics arrived at the scene, however due to
the suspect's severe head injuries, he was declared dead. "The Southgate
Mall Security Officers worked swiftly to handle the situation. We are
extremely saddened by this tragic incident. Southgate Mall Management and
its Security Personnel will offer their full support to the pending SAPS
investigation." Also Mondeor Police Station’s Warrant Officer Bert Otto said

their office was alerted of the incident.  www.looklocal  -  Johannesburg
South

Cash-in-transit vehicle crashes into Clover truck
19 October 2011
 Gerhardt Theron A cash-in-transit (CIT) vehicle collided with a Clover
truck at the P91 and Kwartel Road intersection just before 10am this
morning. The three people in the Clover truck and the two in the CIT vehicle

sustained minor injuries. Although final investigations were still being
compiled, Insp Mveli Nhlapo, metro police spokesman, said it seemed as
though the two vehicles were travelling in the same direction and that the
CIT vehicle turned into the Clover truck, which caused it to crash into a
street light.  www.looklocal  -  Kempton Park

4 men behind bars for robbery
Graeme Raubenheimer
20/10/2011
A policeman and three alleged accomplices are behind bars for a house
robbery in Bellville. They were arrested in October shortly after fleeing
the victim’s home in Park Villas. It is understood the suspects dressed in
full police uniform. It is alleged the four men forced their way into the
home at gunpoint. They apparently tied up the resident before kicking and
slapping him, stealing two plasma televisions, a wallet and the victim’s
shoes. The resident managed to untie himself and with the security guards
help, called the police. Spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said they caught the

suspect including the warrant officer in Elsies River later that evening.
“Their next court appearance will be 31 October for a formal bail
application,” he said.  www.ewn.co.za

Three nabbed over uncut diamonds
October 19 2011 at 02:10pm
Three men have been arrested for possession of 14 uncut diamonds in Athlone,

Cape Town police said on Wednesday. Police pulled a car over near
Klipfontein Road on Tuesday and searched it, Captain Frederick van Wyk said.

“They found the diamonds, three cellphones and a large amount of Zimbabwean
dollars inside.” The estimated value of the diamonds was not immediately
known. The men were expected to face a charge of possession of diamonds when

they appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Thursday.  www.iol.co.za

Two arrested for drugs, rape in Orange Farm
October 19 2011 at 04:21pm
By Keabetsoe Matshediso
A 26-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday after the police found him in
possession of ammunition and drugs in Orange Farm, Extension 2. Police
recieved a tip off about a person being in possession of live ammunition and

drugs. “The police followed up the tip off to the given address where they
found the suspect with the live ammunition and drugs.”, said Johannes
Motsiri, Orange Farm police spokesman. The suspect was arrested and will
appear in the Vereeniging Magistrate Court. In another incident, a
44-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly raping a
six-year-old girl last week in Orange Farm, Extension 1. It appears that the

girl’s mother knew the suspectas a trusted neighbour who, on certain
occasions, had looked after her daughter. Motsiri said: “The mother was
notified by one of the six-year-olds friends that her daughter was being
raped by the suspect. She arrived at the scene and found that it was true.”
The matter was only reported to the police on Tuesday and a case of rape was

then opened. “He was arrested and will appear at the Vereeniging Magistrate
Court.”, said Motsiri.  www.iol.co.za

Security company shocked by rape allegations
19 October 2011
Tammy Sutherns Tactical Reaction Services (TRS), which employed a security
guard accused of raping two young girls, has vowed to find out what
happened. One of their security guards was arrested after being identified
by the 10- and 12-year-old sisters who were allegedly raped while walking to

Noordwyk Spar on 7 October. Head of TRS Renato Ramos said they had done
everything they could to assist the police with the investigation. "We’ve
given the police all the information we have," he said. Ramos added that
they were very strict about who they employed and there had been no red
flags indicating the suspect was dangerous. He had papers certifying him as
a security guard, a clean criminal record as well as clean polygraph tests
which the guards undergo every three months. Guarding and intelligence
officer Hein Koekemoer, who was called to the scene when the guard was
arrested, said, "We don’t know what happened that day, but we fully support
the police and we will keep supporting him. If he is found guilty, we do not

in anyway condone this type of behaviour," he said. He added that he didn’t
know what else they could have done to prevent something like this. Ramos
said, "In all my years in the security industry, I’ve never seen anything
like this." Colonel Steven Moodley station commander for the Midrand police
said the case had been transferred to the Family Violence, Child Protection
and Sexual Offences Unit.  www.looklocal  -  Midrand

Teen nabbed for rape
October 19 2011 at 12:48pm
A teenager has been arrested for allegedly raping a Grade R pupil in Zola,
Soweto, police said on Wednesday. Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said the
14-year-old boy was arrested around midnight. The five-year-old girl did not

return from school on Tuesday afternoon, and the mother went looking for
her. “The girl told her mother she was stopped from going home by the
teenager. He undressed her and raped her.” Makhubela said this happened in
an empty classroom. The boy ran away. He would appear at the Protea
Magistrate's Court on Thursday.  www.iol.co.za

Cops arrested for rape
2011-10-19 18:00
Johannesburg - Three men, including two policemen, have been arrested for
rape in Nelspoort, police said on Wednesday. The three men, aged between 23
and 33, were arrested on Tuesday, Captain Malcolm Pojie said. They allegedly

raped and abused four girls, aged between 14 and 18, between January last
year and April this year. "It is alleged that the accused performed sexual
acts with the victims over a period of time without their consent." The two
policemen were based at the Nelspoort police station. Pojie said more
arrests would be made as police believed other people were involved. A
disciplinary investigation had begun. "We cannot and will not tolerate, nor
allow our members to be involved in crime," said provincial commissioner
Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer. The three men would appear in the Beaufort
West Magistrate's Court on Thursday on charges of rape, statutory rape and
sexual exploitation.   www.news24.com

Man tries to abduct pupil in Roodepoort
2011-10-20 07:41
Johannesburg - A man was arrested on Wednesday for attempting to abduct an
18-year-old girl outside the same school in Florida where Louise de Waal was

snatched last week. The pupil was sitting on a pavement near the school at
06:00 when the man threatened her with a screwdriver and tried to force her
into the boot of his car, said Captain Pinky Tsinyane. "A security guard
from the school saw the incident and alerted police," said Tsinyane. When
noticing the security guard had spotted him, the man fled the scene, leaving

the girl behind. Police later caught the 21-year-old whilst he was driving.
Copycat - "We cannot say at this stage whether the man is linked to the De
Waal case, but police are investigating," said Tsinyane. "We do not know if
he is a copycat. He is being profiled and police will investigate whether he

was involved in some of the previous cases in the area." He will appear in
the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court soon on a charge of attempted kidnapping.
De Waal was abducted last Tuesday and was later found dead on a farm in
Magaliesburg. The provincial education department earlier said that the
screwdriver incident happened near Hoërskool Die Burger, in Roodepoort,
where De Waal was a pupil. De Waal's alleged murderer, Johannes Jacobus
Steyn, turned himself over to the police last week. Steyn has confessed to
being the so-called “Sunday rapist”, but not to being her murderer.
www.news24.com

Cape Town pupil held over gun
October 19 2011 at 04:24pm
A high school pupil has been arrested for possession of a firearm and
ammunition in Elsies River, in Cape Town, police said on Wednesday. Police
were giving career information at a school on Tuesday when pupils tipped
them off that their schoolmate had a gun, Captain Frederick van Wyk said.
They searched the 18-year-old Grade 11 pupil and found a .38 revolver with
three rounds of ammunition. The pupil was expected to face a charge of
illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition in the Goodwood Magistrate's
Court on Friday.  www.iol.co.za

Police officer killed in hijacking attempt
18 October 2011
Bernice Maune A 26-year-old police constable from Kempton Park Police
Station was fatally wounded in a failed hijacking in Ivory Park on Friday.
Const Joas Thole was driving through Ivory Park with two friends in an Audi
at 9.30pm when the hijacking occurred. The hijackers, who drove a Toyota
Venture, told Thole to hand over the keys to the car and upon his refusal,
the four men opened fire. Capt Jethro Mtshali, Kempton SAPS spokesman, said
Thole was off duty and did not return fire. He said a bullet fatally hit
Thole on his lower body. "His friends rushed him to Carstenhof Clinic where
he was declared dead on arrival. His friends were not injured and survived
the ordeal," said Mtshali. Mtshali further added that Thole was a single,
student constable who was appointed last year. "A memorial service for him
will be held tomorrow (October 19) at Christian Life Centre in Kempton Park
at 10am. His funeral service will be held in his hometown of Limpopo on
Saturday," said Mtshali.  www.looklocal  -  Kempton Park

Egpaar se lyke langs huis gekry
2011-10-19 23:23
Marisa Phillips
WELKOM. – Die twee erg ontbinde lyke van ’n egpaar van die stad is
gisteroggend onder rommel agter hul huis in Lakeview gekry. Die moontlikheid

dat plofstof in die moord op mnr. Jan (50) en mev. Maryna Prinsloo (45)
gebruik is, word ondersoek, want albei slagoffers se koppe is vermink. Mnr.
Kirk Bateman van Virginia, mev. Prinsloo se broerskind, het gister op die
twee lyke afgekom. Hy was by die huis op soek na sy pa, Sydney, wat glo ook
daar gebly het. “Die hek was gesluit en alles het baie stil gelyk. Ek het
besluit om oor te klim en deur die vensters te gaan kyk. Binne het ek bloed
gesien en agter die huis het ek op die twee lyke afgekom. Dit was met
komberse en stukke van ’n kar toegemaak.” Hy het die polisie vanaf sy
skoonma se huis gaan bel. Die Prinsloos huur die afgelope jaar die huis in
Gullstraat, Lakeview. Volgens ’n kollega van mnr. Prinsloo het hy by
Beatrix-myn se nr 5-skag gewerk, maar hy was dae laas by die werk. Hy het
vir mense by die werk gesê hy gaan ’n dokter in Bloemfontein besoek. Kol.
Koos van der Merwe, waarnemende stasiekommissaris van Welkom, sê die
vermoede bestaan dat die twee lyke reeds meer as twee weke agter die huis
lê. Hy sê die bewyse dui daarop dat daar ’n bakleiery in die huis was en dat

die egpaar vermoedelik binne die huis vermoor is omdat daar baie bloed in
die huis gekry is. Sleepmerke dui daarop dat die lyke na die agterkant van
die huis gesleep is. “Hulle koppe is erg vermink. Ons kon nog nie vasstel of

dit met plofstof of ’n vuurwapen gedoen is nie.” Van der Merwe sê die
polisie het in die stadium nie verdagtes nie, maar hulle het baie leidrade
wat hulle opvolg. Hy sê daar is nie bewyse dat ’n derde persoon in die huis
gebly het nie. Dit is ook nog nie duidelik of iets uit die huis vermis word
nie, want Van der Merwe sê die huis is baie deurmekaar. Van der Merwe doen
’n
beroep op mense om veral in die feestyd die veiligheid by hul huise op te
skerp en nie vreemdelinge in hul erwe toe te laat nie. Mnr. Wave Prinsloo,
mnr. Jan Prinsloo se broer, sê hy is erg geskok oor die moorde. Hy sê die
egpaar het die huis in Lakeview sowat ’n jaar lank gehuur. “Ek weet nog nie
hoe hulle vermoor is nie. Die polisie sal my laat weet. “My bakkie wat hulle

geleen het om Bloemfontein toe te ry, word vermis.” Die familie vermoed ’n
familielid is vir die moord verantwoordelik. Die polisie is op soek na mnr.
Sydney Bateman wat hulle moontlik met die ondersoek kan help. Enigiemand met

inligting kan die speurder aan diens by 082-301-3075 bel. - Volksblad

Physiotherapist pleads guilty to fraud
October 19 2011 at 03:29pm
Rustenburg physiotherapist Jurry Sehunoe pleaded guilty to 28 counts of
money laundering and 15 cases of fraud in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes
Court on Wednesday. Sehunoe, 33, together with former labour department
employees Maxwell Ramaphosa and Samuel Mfeleng, was accused of defrauding
the Compensation Fund of more than R3 million. His trial will now be handled

separately, leaving Ramaphosa and Mfeleng to plead their innocence in a
different court. Magistrate Nika Setshogoe granted the separation of trial.
In a written affidavit read out by his lawyer, Sehunoe told the court he had

run a physiotherapy business in Rustenburg since 2004. “Most of the
financial claims for accident victims I made on behalf of my clients to the
department of labour's compensation fund were not paid,” Sehunoe said. “I
then approached Mfeleng who later introduced me to Ramaphosa in January
2009. The two agreed to assist me get payment for my clients' claims.” By
then, Mfeleng and Ramaphosa were employed by the department as senior
administration clerks in Gauteng. He said large sums of money were deposited

into his account before the two approached him to say the money was theirs
and he could share with them. He was shown records indicating that the money

had not been paid out for claims he had made. “They took advantage of my
vulnerability and enticed me with cash. I did not want to be part of the
scheme, but later took part of the money and used it for personal
consumption.” Regular payments were made into Sehunoe's three FNB accounts
between February and December 2009. He would transfer some of the money into

the accounts of the other two. Mfeleng's share would be deposited into his
Gladiator Driving School account. Sehunoe said he spent R539 352 of the
money and was willing to pay it back. According to court papers, several
fictitious claims were made to the Compensation Fund “at inflated prices
beyond the applicable rates”. Sehunoe was arrested in May 2010 for fraud
relating to more than R2m and money laundering. Sehuoe's bail was extended
to January 17 2012 when sentencing procedures will start with the submission

of a pre-sentencing report. Ramaphosa and Mfeleng will appear in a different

court on November 1. All three are out on R3 000 bail each.  www.iol.co.za

Pretoria murder-accused freed
2011-10-19 22:46
Johannesburg - A self-confessed killer's refusal to testify has contributed
to two co-accused walking out of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria
scot-free. Judge Jody Kollapen on Wednesday granted a discharge to murder
and robbery accused Mahlodi Kgwete and Zanele Manciya because of a lack of
evidence against them. The two friends were accused of helping Manciya's
sister Mabel to murder her rival domestic worker Johanna Majozi. Mabel
Manciya was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment last year after admitting
that she had stabbed Majozi to death with a steak knife. She claimed she
lost her temper when Majozi called her a witch and told her she would never
get her job back. She claimed she ransacked the house to make it look like a

robbery because she was frightened. Both women had, on occasion, worked for
Pieter Mentz at his house in Wespark. The only evidence presented by the
State was that of a neighbour, who heard Majozi screaming and saw two women
clamping her mouth shut and dragging her into the house. She later saw three

women walk out of the house with bags, but could identify only Mabel
Manciya. Police testified that some of the Mentz's goods were found in
Kgwete's room when she was arrested. Kgwete and Zanele Manciya admitted to
being at the scene, but claimed they only helped Mabel carry goods and had
nothing to do with the murder or robbery. Majozi died after being stabbed 11

times in the chest, neck and back. According to an autopsy report, she was
also strangled. Photos of the murder scene showed that her ankles and knees
were tied and that she was blindfolded before she was stabbed. The State
closed its case after Mabel Manciya refused to testify against her sister
and Kgwete. Kollapen said it was clear that more than one person was
involved in the murder, but there was no evidence about their identity.
While there was "considerable suspicion" about the involvement of Kgwete and

Zanele Manciya, there was no forensic or other evidence to implicate them in

the murder or robbery.  www.news24.com

Plans to deal with cash heists
20 Oct 2011
Mfundekelwa Mkhulisi
With the festive season around the corner, criminals want to take a dip into

the estimated R80-billion in circulation. But the police and security
companies will be ready to deal with any attempt by the criminals to lay
their grubby hands on the South African public's hard-earned money, Secured
Banking Vehicle Services (SBV) chief executive Grant Dunnington has warned.
He says South Africa had seen a decrease in cash-in-transit heists (CIT)
because of comprehensive measures put in place, such as beefing up personnel

and using armoured vehicles. Between 2007 and 2009 there were 340 robberies
and last year the number dropped to 204, he said. Dunnington said SBV hired
additional staff to prevent heists during the festive season. He said
research had also revealed that most attacks happen on Mondays between 9am
and noon. He warned retailers that they still needed to be vigilant to
protect their business and customers. "Though there has been a reported
decrease in CIT heists over the last couple of years, retailers are still
not immune to attacks and should take the time to beef up their security and

be alert to suspicious activities on their premises," he said. Internal
involvement from staff in heists is believed to be both retailers and SBV's
biggest threat. Dunnington urged retailers to pay extra attention in and
around their shops for their safety and that of their customers. SBV head of

CIT Mike Shipton lauded police for arresting some of the most wanted
criminals last year. Kingpins Donald Duma Sigasa, Jethros "Malombo" Mthembu,

Josia "MaSeven" Nkosi, Happy Mosia and Moeketsi "Keke" Masike were among the

10 most wanted criminals apprehended in a 10-day blitz by the Hawks. They
were linked to CITs dating back to 2001. "Police Minister (Nathi Mthethwa)
and police commissioner (General Bheki Cele) have done a great job in
fighting crime," he said.  Sowetan

PE court system close to collapse
19 October 2011
Estelle Ellis
CHAOTIC court rolls have pushed Port Elizabeth’s most serious high court
criminal prosecutions to the brink of collapse, with lawyers complaining
that a severely broken system has caused unprecedented delays. “I have
appeared in this court frequently and I have never seen such long delays,”
attorney Peter Daubermann said in court yesterday, arguing that it would be
better for his clients’ cases to be struck from the roll than for the
continuous infringement of their right to a speedy trial. Meanwhile, deputy
director of public prosecutions in Port Elizabeth Hannelie Bakker said
yesterday she was also no longer able to deliver justice to the victims of
crime and communities at risk due to delays of up to three years in
finalising matters, caused by problems with court rolls. “Witnesses forget.
People disappear. Traumatised families lose hope,” she said. Forty-three
accused implicated in some of the city’s worst crimes – including house
robberies, hijackings, cash-in-transit robberies, child rapes and gang
murders – appeared yesterday for 15 separate cases to be postponed as trial
rolls are too clogged up with partly heard matters to allow for new cases to

start. In the Port Elizabeth High Court, only two judges are assigned to
hear criminal matters every week. In one of the cases, where the accused had

already been held in custody pending trial for three years, the court was
asked yesterday to strike the matter from the roll. Judge Phakamisa Tshiki
refused, but did make an unprecedented order that the men be given an
expedited trial date. The high court is also due to hear several bail
applications in the next few weeks occasioned by the long delays in
finalising criminal matters. Lawyers said yesterday the main cause of the
delays was the practice that complex criminal trials were set down for no
longer than a week at a time, leading to several postponements that could
delay the finalisation of cases by up to a year. The court rolls are
compiled by the office of Eastern Cape Judge President Themba Sangoni. He
declined to comment on the issue. Bakker said her office had no control over

the court rolls and the long delays in finalising high court trials had a
severely detrimental effect on witnesses and traumatised victims of crime,
especially those in witness protection. “We cannot fight the gangs and
organised crime like this.” She was summoned to the city’s New Law Court
last month to explain the lengthy delays in setting dates for high court
trials. In that case the trial of Jeremy King, charged with the murder of a
child while trying to assassinate a witness in a gang-related trial, was at
risk of being struck from the roll due to long delays. The chaos is set to
escalate at the start of the next court term, on January 24, when more than
60 prisoners will appear in court in an unprecedented 25 cases – all of them

provisionally postponed for court dates. Meanwhile Sangoni’s office has,
without explanation, reduced the trial time for one of Port Elizabeth’s
biggest racketeering cases, due to start on November 14, to one week. The
move is likely to cause more massive delays in the trial for prominent
criminal defence team Advocate Terry Price and attorney Alwyn Griebenouw in
a case that has already been postponed four times in the high court.
Daubermann opposed the prosecution’s application for a postponement
yesterday, saying that no real reason could be advanced as to why there was
no space on the court rolls for the trial. By their next court appearance,
his clients would have been in prison awaiting trial for three years, “If
this long delay is caused by the system, something must be done about the
system,” Daubermann said. “The right to a speedy trial cannot be negated
because of a problem with the system. My clients stand to be severally
prejudiced.” Another attorney, Robin O’Brien, said even if a trial date was
set for their clients next year, the practice of setting down criminal
matters for a week at a time caused massive delays in the finalisation of
cases. Their sentiments were supported by several of their colleagues
embroiled in drawn-out criminal matters that take up to a year to finish. At

the moment, the Port Elizabeth High Court is dealing with 25 criminal trials

that have not been finalised. Half of the court time for the first term of
next year has already been allocated to partly heard trials and the
remaining weeks are filling up fast. Meanwhile, a further 40 cases are
awaiting trial – a number that is steadily increasing as Port Elizabeth’s
gang warfare claims more and more victims, among other crimes.  The Herald

Fraudsters cash in on Lotto
20 Oct 2011
Caiphus Kgosana
FRAUDSTERS are using sophisticated tactics to dupe the National Lotteries
Board into paying funds to bogus charities, while some genuine recipients
are using lotto grants to buy luxury cars. And the boards of some legitimate

charities were becoming too reliant on lottery for funds and neglecting
fund-raising. This was revealed by the board yesterday when it addressed
Parliament on its annual report. Chief executive officer Vevek Ram said the
board, which distributed R3-billion to charities and other entities in the
2010-11 financial year, had picked up numerous fraudulent applications for
funding. "You will find a person that has got 10 IDs, with 10 different
names and 16 places where he lives and maybe he will make 16 different
applications for different projects. That happens a lot," he said. Ram also
said there are beneficiaries who apply under the pretext of needing the
money for charitable projects but when the funds are paid out, redirect them

towards personal luxuries. "We find that you give somebody money to plant
food and then they would buy a Land Rover." The board was also dealing with
instances of conflict of interest, where some grant recipients were using
lotto funds to fund projects that are managed by their own companies.
Sowetan

No solid proof against Mdluli – Hawks
October 19 2011 at 10:44am
The Hawks have not been able to get concrete evidence linking suspended
crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli and his co-accused to the
disappearance of two Vosloorus men, a spokesman said on Wednesday. “It's not

so clean-cut… We have made inquiries with the two families,” Colonel
McIntosh Polela said. “We don't rule out that there is a link, but until we
have concrete evidence we can't say anything.” Polela said the interest in
Mdluli and Colonel Nkosana Ximba was sparked because Ximba was the last
person seen with the two men. The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that

the Hawks were looking into the disappearance of people believed to be crime

intelligence informants from Vosloorus on the East Rand more than 13 years
ago. Lunga Khumalo, then 21, and Thulani Shoba, then 24, were last seen by
relatives when Ximba allegedly picked them up from their Vosloorus homes in
a police car. Their families had reportedly pleaded for help finding their
sons for years, to no avail. A number of murder and kidnapping cases linked
to Mdluli were also being investigated, according to the report. Mdluli and
three others are expected to go on trial in the High Court in Johannesburg
in April on charges of intimidation, kidnapping, assault with intent to do
grievous bodily harm, murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit
murder. They are accused of involvement in a decade-old love triangle
murder. Mdluli faces an additional charge of defeating or obstructing the
course of justice.  www.iol.co.za

5 cops vs 1 500 serial rapists
October 19 2011 at 11:22am
By Caryn Dolley
There are roughly 1 500 serial rapists in the country, who have been active
during the past three years – and these are just the ones the police are
aware of. But, despite the overwhelming number of cases, there are only five

specialised police officers countrywide dedicated to investigating these
types of criminals, says Gérard Labuschagne, head of the police’s
investigative psychology section. Situated in Pretoria and falling under the

police’s forensic sciences division, the section probes
psychologically-motivated crimes including muti murders, other unusual
murders, serial killings and serial rapes. At any given time the section,
which is stretched to capacity, is investigating a number of criminals
around the country. “When we detect some cases, we forward them on because
there are too many for us to get involved in,” Labuschagne said in an
exclusive telephone interview permitted by the national police. “We’re
always busy. There’s never a moment we’re not busy with a serial case in the

country.” In recent cases the section has dealt with, Thabo Bester, who
became known as the “Facebook rapist”, was arrested two weeks ago and
pleaded guilty to raping two models in Durban in August. He was sentenced to

50 years imprisonment and faces more charges in Cape Town and Gauteng. On
Monday, Johannes Jacobus Steyn admitted to being the “Sunday rapist” who
preyed on young girls in Gauteng and North West. He also faces additional
charges including 13 counts of rape, one of murder and 10 of kidnapping.
Labuschagne said there were currently about 1 500 serial rapists on the
police’s database. Some of these were still on the loose, some were in
police custody awaiting trial and others may have been convicted. “But it’s
impossible to know exactly how many (serial rapists) there actually are. We
always assume there are more,” Labuschagne said. All the 1 500 serial
rapists on the database had committed a rape within the past three years.
Labuschagne said rapists were usually tracked using DNA samples and were
classified as serial after committing two rapes. “DNA is the easiest way to
track them. When a case is opened we check at neighbouring police stations
to see if there are similar cases. We look in other areas only if there’s a
reason to look in that specific area,” he said. Labuschagne said the police
had a serial DNA unit in their forensics laboratory which had the list of
serial rapists. DNA samples of suspected rapists were tested and this was
how more incidents could be linked to the rapists already on the list, or
more names were added to it. When the DNA unit had a “double hit” – when the

DNA sample of a rapist matched another sample – he was classified as a
serial rapist and investigations into his actions were intensified.
Labuschagne said there tended to be more serial rapists in KwaZulu-Natal and

Gauteng. He did not know why. He said the Western Cape had also had its
share of serial rapists. But he said up until about a year ago it had been
difficult to track serial rapists operating in the Western Cape as officers
in the police’s Western Cape Forensic Science Laboratory had only tested
certain victims’ samples. Usually, when a rape survivor was sexually
assaulted and the matter was reported to the police, a sexual assault kit
was compiled. Samples, including bodily fluids forming part of the kit, were

then tested and those results could then be matched to a blood sample taken
from the rape suspect, linking a suspect to a rape survivor. Labuschagne
said previously, sexual assault kits from survivors in cases where a suspect

had not been identified, had not been processed in the province’s forensics
laboratory. “The thinking was, if you don’t have a suspect why process that
sample,” Labuschagne said. He said this had changed in the past year when a
new police officer had been put in charge of the laboratory, and now all
samples were processed. This made it easier to link suspects to cases, and
police could therefore see if they could be regarded as serial rapists.
Labuschagne said aside from serial rapists, the investigative psychology
section probed serial killers. “If there’s a murder series (a serial
killer), no matter how busy we are we always get involved,” he said. In
Labuschagne’s 10 years in the investigative psychology section he said he
had probed more than 70 serial murder cases and 200 serial rape cases.
Members of his section went out and helped detectives investigate a specific

crime. They generally did not take over the investigation, but assisted and
guided where they could. Labuschagne said he hoped satellite stations,
branching from the investigative psychology section, would be established in

the provinces during the next two years as this would ease the section’s
workload. He said he was involved in training other police officers and once

a year gave short presentations to detectives to sensitise them to the
crimes they were likely to investigate. - Cape Times

Meet SA’s best hijack hunter
October 19 2011 at 09:39am
By Lee Rondganger
Two bullet holes in his police car– one in the driver’s side door and the
other in the boot – bear testimony to how dangerous Warrant Officer Ganas
“Tiger” Ramsamy’s job can get. The Durban SAPS policeman has been named
South Africa’s top cop by a tracking company for recovering 168 hijacked and

stolen vehicles in KwaZulu-Natal this year, up from the 148 he recovered
last year. Over the past year alone, he has arrested more than 40 car
thieves and recovered 10 firearms. The bullet hole in the driver’s door came

when he had traced a hijacked Lexus to Umlazi’s F-Section and was shot at by

the hijackers while the bullet hole in the boot was a parting shot from a
hijacker who shot at him after he had recovered a stolen Toyota RunX in
Amanzimtoti. “It’s all part of the job,” the 47-year-old father of two said.

“See that hole,” he says pointing to the driver’s side door. “Had that one
got me I would have been paralysed.” As a police officer attached to the
Montclair Crime Prevention Unit, Ramsamy is responsible for chasing
hijackers and car thieves for the entire south Durban basin. He has lost
track of the number of stolen cars he has given back to grateful owners, but

recently Ramsamy’s dedication to the fight against crime was recognised when

he was named South Africa’s top cop for the most vehicles recovered at the
Tracker awards held in Pretoria on Friday. From June last year to June this
year, Ramsamy recovered 168 hijacked or stolen vehicles fitted with a
tracking device – the most for any officer countrywide. In 2010, he was
named KZN’s top vehicle finder after recovering 148 vehicles, narrowly
missing out on the national prize. Ramsamy has recovered scores of cars not
fitted with tracking devices. He joined the police in 1983 after falling in
love with the uniform as a teenager. Just months after walking out of the
Wentworth Police College, he earned the nickname Tiger. “Some people don’t
even know my real name,” he laughs. “I earned the name because when I start
chasing a suspect I don’t stop until I catch him. Everybody knows me by it,
even the criminals,” he said. Ramsamy says that it is his passion for the
community and the adrenalin rush of chasing bad guys that motivates him.
“You also have to have a wide network of informers,” he said. “This happens
when you get the community to trust you and believe in you. I often get
calls from people saying, ‘Tiger, there is this suspicious car just parking
in the neighbourhood, come check it out’. “The community and gaining
people’s
trust is very important if you want to be a good policeman because nobody
knows the neighbourhood like them,” he said. Tracker and the SA police have
an agreement where Tracker’s recovery technology has been fitted to more
than 50 police aircraft and more than 1 300 SAPS vehicles. When a car is
stolen or hijacked in the south Durban area, an SMS is sent to Ramsamy’s
cellphone. He gets into his police car, fitted with a device that can pick
up the stolen vehicle’s signal and drives to the nearest hilltop to
pin-point the vehicle’s location. “The quickest I have been able to find a
vehicle was five minutes. The longest was two-and-half hours,” Ramsamy said.

Most thieves however know that vehicles are fitted with tracking devices and

usually leave the car in a deserted area to “cool off”. After finding a car
abandoned, Ramsamy and his team may, if the situation allows for it, set a
trap for the thief. But sting operations like this can be dangerous. In July

this year, Ramsamy was part of the team that brought down the leader of a
notorious “blue light gang”, Thabo Sithole, who was responsible for a spate
of truck and luxury vehicle hijackings. Ramsamy and his colleagues had set a

trap for Sithole after he had hijacked a VW Polo in Montclair and left the
car to “cool off” at a Durban city centre parkade. “We saw him come back for

the car and when he got into it, we surrounded him. As he got out of the car

he pointed his gun straight at my head and was about to pull the trigger
when a colleague of mine shot him dead. “When the gun was pointed at me I
thought ‘this is it’, and just went cold. Had my colleague not responded
when he did, he would have shot me,” Ramsamy said. Ramsamy said that his
wife, Rhona, and their six-year-old twin boys understand that he has a
dangerous job but support him. “I would never be able to do it without them.

When I get home sometimes my boys often ask me if I caught the bad guys or
if I was the first to get to a stolen vehicle.” As part of his prize Ramsamy

will attend International Association of Auto Theft Investigators seminar in

Kansas City, USA next year and received R10 000 to donate to a children’s
home of his choice. Ramsamy will be handing over the cheque to the Isiya
Children’s Home on the Bluff on Wednesday. - Daily News

Marches will bring back dignity, says Juju
2011-10-19 16:18
Marching to the Union Buildings in Pretoria will ensure that residents of
Thembelihle in Lenasia, south of Joburg, would finally find dignity, ANC
Youth League leader Julius Malema said today. “We need to tell the
government that we want to be treated with respect. We need to bring back
the dignity of black people, especially Africans,” he said. More than 600
residents gathered to hear Malema speak ahead of planned marches for
economic freedom in Joburg and Pretoria. “If we want to be beautiful we need

to make sure there is food on our table. We will fight until we have that
food,” Malema said. “Community leaders are telling us to never sell out our
own people. We are going to march and if there is no answer we will not
stop, we will not leave you [government] alone.” He said the residents
should march to Pretoria along the M1 highway. Malema ended his address by
leading the crowd in an alternate rendition of dubula ibunu [kill the boer]
called “kiss the boer” before pointing his finger at the crowd and mimicking

the sounds of gunfire. Many residents were in agreement with Malema. “This
[the march] is a good thing. We spent too many years in shacks. If there is
no salt, we will fight until we get salt,” an unnamed resident said. Other
residents said Malema was “talking nonsense”. “We are human beings. Kill the

boer is not for us. We just want electricity and service delivery. This
Julius is talking nonsense,” Eric Mdluli said. The Economic Freedom Youth
Mass Action is to be held on October 27 and October 28 at Beyers Naude
square in central Joburg, the Chamber of Mines in Hollard street in Joburg,
the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in Sandton and at the Union Buildings in
Pretoria, where a night vigil is planned.  City Press

Cosatu plans mass picket over Walmart merger
October 19 2011 at 12:19pm
CLAYTON BARNES
Political Writer
WALMART won’t change its ways and should not be allowed into South Africa
under any circumstances, according to Cosatu. The trade union federation
said yesterday that it would strengthen its anti-Walmart campaign with a
“mass picket” outside the Western Cape High Court, where the Competition
Appeals Tribunal is set to meet, tomorrow and Friday. The R16.5 billion
Walmart-Massmart merger was approved by the Competition Tribunal in May,
subject to certain conditions. Mike Louw, Cosatu’s provincial co-ordinator,
said the government should “do everything in its power” to keep Walmart out.

He said the government should stop negotiations and simply tell Walmart that

“Africa was not interested in having them here”. “Having Walmart here won’t
only affect jobs, but will also destroy the economy,” said Louw. “They won’t

change their ways. Their only way of doing business is to destroy
everything. “Once they are here, Africa will be ravaged by Walmart.” It has
been suggested that the US firm used its size to destroy competition.
Earlier this month, the departments of agriculture, forestry and fisheries;
economic development; and trade and industry filed heads of argument in the
Competition Appeal Court. They want the deal sent back to the tribunal for
proper consideration and more effective conditions to be imposed. Cosatu
supported this move.  Cape Argus

Census extended for two weeks
October 19 2011 at 12:19pm
STAFF REPORTERS
ANOTHER two weeks has been added to the Census 2011 process to enable the
enumeration of people left out during the initial 21-day period and to
accommodate families who did not form part of the original plan. The census
began October 10 when about 160 000 field workers started to visit
households across the country, collecting information required for
policy-making processes and to enable the improvement of service delivery.
“This two-week period will help us reach the homes we missed, either because

they were not there when our field workers visited, or because there was no
access,” said the national executive manager responsible for Census 2011
data collection, Yandiswa Mpetsheni. “In some cases there are more
apartments or more rooms in the backyard, with more tenants than
anticipated, which then means more families than the ones scheduled for our
field workers.” Mpetsheni said the process was going well so far. “A lot of
people are excited by being part of the process and give us feedback to that

effect; others are unhappy for one reason or another.” She said they had
warned female field workers to be vigilant and wary of attempts to rape
them. “We are working together with security companies and the police and we

have also set up a hotline for traumatised field workers, where they can be
counselled or called in for face-to-face debriefing sessions,” she said. In
the Western Cape, census staff have been encouraged to work in groups, and
will be accompanied into high-risk areas by police after a spate of violent
attacks on enumerators. Marius Cronje, Stats SA provincial manager and
census co-ordinator, said this week that four incidents had been reported in

Cape Town between Friday and Sunday night. In the latest incident in
Bonteheuwel late on Sunday, an enumerator was robbed of his wallet. Cronje
said census staff were given tips on what to do in potentially dangerous
situations. Cronje said Stats SA was working closely with the police to
ensure that enumerators and the public were safe. The enumerators visit each

house armed with questionnaires, each 75 questions long, which ask for basic

information on the socio-economic status of the home. All South Africans are

obliged to participate in the process. Failure to co-operate will render
people liable to a six-month jail term or a R10 000 fine, or both.  Cape
Argus

Power cuts on Thursday
18 October 2011 ELECTRICITY supply will be interrupted on Thursday 20
October from 9am to 2pm as eThekwini electricity will be doing construction
work on the high voltage network. This construction will introduce a new
electrical switching station in Parlock and ensure reliability and improved
quality of supply to the northern network. Areas that will be affected
include Newlands East, Newlands West, Sea Cow Lake, Parlock, Bakerville,
KwaMashu, Umzinyathi, Ntuzuma, Inanda, Lindelani, Springfield Park
(partially affected) and Avoca. If there are inclement weather conditions,
the outage will be rescheduled for Tuesday 25 October from 12.30pm to
5.30pm. During this outage, customers must treat all installations as live.
For enquiries relating to the outage contact the Contact C