ZiMoja updates on the latest crime news in parts of the country.
GAUTENG: The police have arrested one inkabi in Midrand after an attempted assassination on two taxi bosses. Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the police have launched a manhunt for other hitmen linked to the case. Two taxi bosses were shot and injured when the gunmen shot at them yesterday evening. The shooting took place on Olifantsfontein and Lever Road in Midrand. Two bystanders, a street vendor and a female motorist were also shot and injured.
EASTERN CAPE: National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola has deployed extra capacity to the Eastern Cape province to clampdown on extortionists and gangs. This comes after the community in Umtata said that business owners were shutting down their shops amid the rise of gangs demanding protection fees.It's alleged that the extortionists also demand protection fees from schools, with four reportedly closed. According to Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, the deployment of additional police comes after a visit and community stakeholder engagements in Mthatha and Gqerberha led by Masemola, Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu and his two deputies, Cassel Mathale and Polly Boshielo, as well as SAPS management. Mathe said that multidisciplinary teams have been deployed to prevent, combat, investigate and arrest those behind incidents of gang violence and extortion in the province. In relation to sporadic incidents of violence and extortion at construction sites and businesses across the country, 722 extortionists have been arrested in the last five years.
LIMPOPO: Limpopo Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has welcomed the life sentences that were meted out by the Limpopo Division of the High Court in Polokwane against Khomotso Pitsi Mamphaka (36) and Donald Lethope Tshehla (31) after they were found guilty of robbing and fatally shooting a foreign national businessman. On 13 April 2022, the convicted murderers went to the victim's shop, threatened him with a firearm, robbed him of his car and a large sum of money before fatally shooting him. The accused fled the scene with the victim's car and it was later found abandoned around Tafelkop in the Motetema policing area.
The two accused were arrested a few days later. Mamphaka and Tshehla were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, 15 years for robbery, five years for unlawful possession of a firearm, two years for unlawful possession of ammunition, and eight years for conspiracy to commit robbery. The sentences will run concurrently.
FREE STATE: The family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit requests the community help find the mother of a newborn baby boy who was found abandoned on Sunday. The baby was found naked and on the ground at the gate of a complex in Dagbreek. The baby was found by a resident of the complex who alerted the police. The baby was admitted to the hospital for medical attention. The mother is still not known or found and a case of attempted murder was registered for further investigations. Anyone with information that will help trace the mother should please contact Detective Sergeant Sinah Mvundle of FCS on 078 095 7328 or alternatively the Crime Stop number 08600 10111.
NORTH WEST: Chief financial officer at the City of Matlosana Municipality Maebe Phetla (38), Mmatebesi Sekhejane (42), an acting store controller at the same municipality along with Tiisetso Sebetlele (33), the director of Variegated Pty (Ltd) company, appeared in the Klerksdorp Magistrates Court on Monday on charges of fraud relating to procurement irregularities. It is alleged that in January, the municipality paid a service provider an amount of R2.9 million for electrical materials, which were never delivered. The accused are out on bail after being arrested by the Hawks. Phetla was granted R35 000 bail, Sekhejane R5 000, while Sebetlele is out on R20 000 bail. Their case was postponed to 12 November 2024 for further investigation, and the court ordered that the trio report at their nearest police stations once a week and that they must not be in contact with the state witnesses.
