ZiMoja updates on the latest crime news in parts of the country.
WESTERN CAPE: Two suspects linked to the murder of underworld kingpin Mark Lifman are expected to appear at the the George Magistrate's Court today. The two suspects were swiftly arrested near Uniondale on Sunday, shortly after the shooting. Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut confirmed that the suspects were questioned and are now charged with the murder of a 57-year-old Lifman. Traut said the car the pair, aged 37 and 53, were travelling in was also confiscated. Lifman was murdered a day before he was due to appear in court for the murder of an alleged steroid,Brian Wainstein, who was shot and killed in 2017. It is alleged Lifman and Wainstein had disagreement over property deals and Lifman got him killed with the help of the 27s gang.
GAUTENG: The Pretoria Magistrate's Court granted bail to three accused who allegedly extorted money from a businessman. The NPA's Lumka Mahanjana said the accused are a prosecutor stationed at the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit (SCCU), Advocate Avinash Ramapararat (45) and two police officers stationed at Wierdabrurg Police Station, Sergeant Herman Matsabane Mnguni (46) and constable Abdul Haig Shaik (35). It is alleged that the businessman was arrested and charged with fraud on 28 June 2024. After his arrest, it is alleged that Ramapararat and Shaik requested the businessman to pay them R300 000, in exchange for his release. The businessman called his business partner who paid them. After continuously asking for money after his release, the complainant reported the matter to the police. Mahanjana said a trap was set, where the complainant paid R100 000 to Mnguni. The trap led to the arrest of the two police officers on 25 and 26 October 2024 and the prosecutor was later arrested on 31 October 2024. They are facing two counts of extortion and two counts of corruption for R100 000 and R300 000 they received from the businessman. They were each granted R5 000 bail with conditions that they should not interfere with state witnesses and investigations. The matter was postponed to 17 February 2025 for further investigations
GAUTENG: Through its high-density operations Operation Shanela, the South African Police Service (SAPS) arrested 13 020 suspects from the beginning of last week. National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said 2 052 suspects were wanted for various serious and violent crimes such as murder, attempted murder, rape, business and house robberies. A 140 suspects were arrested for murder, majority of these suspects were arrested in the Eastern Cape (46) followed by Western Cape (25) and the Gauteng (22); 94 suspects were arrested for attempted murder while 233 suspects were arrested for rape. She said the majority of the rape suspects were arrested in KwaZulu-Natal with 88 arrests. The police also arrested 1 688 suspects for assault GBH during this period, 154 for dealing in drugs, 1 153 were arrested for being in possession of drugs. More than a 100 suspects were arrested for being in the illegal possession of firearms with the majority of them being from the Western Cape at 34, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 32 and Eastern Cape with 17 suspects arrested. Cracking down on those who are in the country illegally, the police arrested 122 illegal foreign nationals and the majority of them were arrested in Gauteng while 579 drunk drivers were arrested with the majority in KwaZulu-Natal (107) followed by Western Cape (101).
