ZiMoja updates on the latest crime news in parts of the country.
EASTERN CAPE: National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola said preliminary investigations into the mass murder of community patrollers in Godini village, outside Mthatha, are pointing at ongoing stock theft-related matters between the village and other neighbouring villages. Masemola visited the crime scene yesterday and said the police are following a positive lead that could lead to the arrest of the suspects linked to the killing of six community patrollers on Sunday night. The patrollers were shot dead at Lugongozo Senior Secondary School, where they were patrolling. Four who survived the shooting are fighting for their lives in the hospital.
Masemola said a team of specialised detectives from the district office of the SAPS in Mthatha are hot on the heels of the suspects wanted in connection with the killings. "The investigation is ongoing and arrests are imminent in this regard, as the detective leads are pointing at ongoing stock theft-related matters between the affected village and other neighbouring villages," Masemola said. Meanwhile, Masemola also said that investigations are at an advanced but sensitive stage in relation to the arrest of the suspects linked to the gruesome murder of 18 family members and relatives in Lusikisiki last week. Over the weekend, the police announced that three suspects were arrested in connection with the Lusikisiki murders, but the National Prosecuting Authority in the province told Newzroom Afrika in an interview that they did not have such a matter on the roll.
GAUTENG: A suspect was shot and killed while four others escaped following an armed robbery on the M2 Highway yesterday. Colonel Mavela Masondo said a white Ford Ranger bakkie blocked a grey SUV Mercedes Benz driven by a 66-year-old male, and five suspects alighted from the bakkie and used a hammer to break the window. According to Masando, the suspects robbed the man of cash, a cellphone and a bag with a laptop. "Members of the Johannesburg Central SAPS motor bike squad witnessed the suspects jumping into a white Ford Ranger with no registration plates and gave chase," Masondo said. He added that the suspects opened fire on police, who retaliated and one suspect was fatally wounded while the remaining suspects evaded arrest. One firearm and laptop were recovered inside the vehicle.
KWAZULU-NATAL: Two cousins, aged 21 and 28, have been sentenced to a term of life imprisonment each by the Pinetown Magistrate's Court for the murder of a pregnant woman in December 2019 in the Msinga area. The 28-year-old was in a romantic relationship with the woman at the time of the murder and they have a 5-year-old daughter, but they broke up a year earlier as the accused was violent. She further obtained a protection order against him. KZN regional spokesperson for the NPA, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, said on 02 December 2019, the woman, who was pregnant with someone else's baby, was at her home with her daughter when the men broke down the door. They overpowered her and hacked her with a panga and a bush knife. She and the unborn baby died following the attack, which lasted approximately half an hour. In convicting the men, the court found the child to be a reliable witness, as she was able to identify the attackers and relate details of the incident.
