ZiMoja updates on the latest crime news in parts of the country.

GAUTENG: A suspect has been arrested in Walkerville after he was caught with a cloned police vehicle yesterday. The vehicle was discovered on a property after the police received an intelligence report and ran a driven operation led by JHB Crime Intelligence and Soweto K9 unit members. Police spokesperson Colonel Noxolo Kweza said the operation led the police to make a recovery of the cloned, marked vehicle with police registration number plates and police call signs. The police further recovered a white VW Polo fitted with blue lights and sirens, a stolen R5 rifle, police reflector jackets and several SAPS number plates. The suspect is linked to robberies that are said to have taken place in Gauteng and will be appearing in court soon.

KWAZULU NATAL: A 31-year-old suspected serial rapist was arrested during an early morning raid at a block of flats on Block J2 at the Glebelands hostel in Umlazi yesterday. The police acted on the intelligence report, which uncovered the room in which the suspect has been hiding for years. During his arrest, the suspect was found in possession of a cellphone belonging to a 26-year-old woman whom he allegedly raped in the evening of Sunday. According to police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda, the suspect enticed the victim on the internet and the two agreed to meet. During their first meeting, it is believed that the suspect led the victim to the Glebelands hostel sportsground, where he allegedly raped her at knife point and robbed her of her belongings, including a cellphone. The suspect was wanted for a series of rape and robbery cases that he allegedly committed at the Glebelands hostel, mostly at the sportsgrounds, since 2021. His first case was in December 2021, where he allegedly raped a 30-year-old woman. The suspect is also linked to 27 cases of rape and robbery through DNA samples. He will appear in the Umlazi Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

NORTH WEST: A man was remanded in custody after he appeared in the Stilfontein Magistrate's Court on Monday for the murder of his girlfriend's gobela. It is alleged that Moses Bongani Zulu stabbed a traditional healer, Koketso Peterson (34) with a sharp instrument on Sunday morning at Peterson's house in Khuma township. After the stabbing, Peterson was rushed to a nearby clinic, where she was declared dead shortly after arrival. Zulu is expected to re-appear before the same court on Monday, September 2, for a formal bail application.

NORTH WEST: A former police officer was sentenced by the Zeerust Regional Court sentenced to double life imprisonment for killing of his estranged wife and her boyfriend on 14 March 2023. The court heard that Selowa-Makhotoka Mmutle who was a detective warrant officer, stationed at Nietverdint police station at the time, was separated from his wife as they were experiencing marital problems. On the day of the incident, the accused followed his wife Motshegwa Mmutle, her boyfriend Katlego Selokwane, and her friend as they went to the friend's residence. Shortly after they arrived, the accused also arrived and shot at them with twelve bullets, killing the wife and the boyfriend instantly while the friend managed to escape. The accused called the police and was arrested on the same day. He was charged with two counts of murder. He was denied bail and has been in custody since then.