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- A Stuijt
- Retired South African medical journalist, ex-Sunday Times of Johannesburg.
Durban, Cape Town airport security breached
20:58 | 
Posted by
A Stuijt |
Cape Town international airport: 3 suspects arrested with loaded firearm
7 January 2010 – CAPE TOWN. The SAPS report that three men were arrested at Cape Town International airport – one with a handgun by the new Tactical Response Team. The nine police members had spotted three occupants in a Red Toyota Cressida parked next to the New World Cargo Section. Led by Sgt Mandisi Molozana, the team approached the men and requested to see the driver’s licence of the driver, which he could not produce.The men said while being questioned that ‘they were waiting for a friend who was finishing off work at the airport”. The men were asked to get out of the car. One of the men appeared very nervous and was searched. He was found in possession of a .22 pistol with serial number 50968 - a Bernadelli - with one magazine loaded with three rounds. The firearm was tucked into the man’s waist belt.Investigations are underway to check whether the men could be linked to other crimes.They were charged with being in possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and would appear soon in the Bellville Magistrates’ Court.The vigilant members possibly prevented the execution of a serious and violent crime.http://www.sapsjournalonline.gov.za/dynamic/journal_dynamic.aspx?pageid=414&jid=18082
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Durban airport shop robbed at gunpoint a few hundred metres from the police station…
June 6 2010 -- DURBAN international airport -- After an armed man robbed the House of Coffees at KwaZulu’s international Airport - only a few hundred metres from the police station on Monday -- local business people expressed concern for their safety. Other break-ins are also believed to have taken place at the airport over the the past few months, but the state-run Airports “Company” of South Africa has pulled a veil of secrecy over all these allegations. The employee at the House of Coffees was robbed of at least R120,000 by ‘a well-dressed man carrying a briefcase”at 5am. The airport has a police station very nearby. It handles some 2.5 million travelers annually -- “amongst whom are well-known dignitaries and delegates” attending massive international events. according to its own website.
Airport security issue:
National police spokesman, Superintendent Lindela Mashego, yesterday said no arrests had been made and police were reviewing CCTV footage. The robbery came amidst a worldwide drive to tighten security at airports after a recent terrorist scare in the United States. An airport restaurant manager, who declined to be named, said the incident was "too close to home". "We are worried for our safety. Although there have been incidents here before, none has been this brazen."
- "This robbery raises a lot of questions. Where were the security guards and police? They are normally patrolling here on a daily basis," the manager said.
An employee at a store that sells sunglasses said there had been three break-ins last year. And he said over R100,000 worth of glasses were taken during the last burglary a few months ago. He said a gate was broken and branded glasses were stolen from the display cabinets.
however the state-run Airports ‘company” of SA spokesman Colin Naidoo said this had been an ‘isolated robbery’, while admitting in the same statement that "random crimes did take place": "Certain criminal elements who operate at the airport try to ply their trade. But we make sure necessary steps are taken to prevent crime. The airport has certain processes in place to mitigate the effects of crime, such as a police station situated on the premises and regular patrols by officers. This is certainly not a place where robberies are taking place all the time," Naidoo said.
He accused the public and shopowners of ‘sometimes try to create this impression that the airport is a place where people are being robbed every day. People get robbed at malls all the time but no one writes about that..." Asked about other crime that occurred before Monday's incident, Naidoo declined to comment and referred all queries to the SAPS.
Another employee at a nearby store said there were safety concerns to be addressed if an armed robbery could take place only a few hundred metres from a police station. "We want to know if we are safe here. How can someone walk in and walk out with money and no one catches him?" she asked. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=vn20100106131856713C912307
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Pietersburg police arrest 14 robbers of Jazz Festival visitors
Picture: Fltr: Capt Joe Shingange, Capt Matiti Rameetse, Insp Matete Molele and Capt Terrence Pilusa with the cellphones which had been recovered from 14 robbers who were terrorising music lovers at the Mapungubwe Jazz Festival at the Polokwane Cricket Club on Thursday, 31 December 2009.
The police, who were patrolling the area, received complaints from music lovers that there were young men who were robbing them of their cellphones.
The police acted swiftly and launched an investigation which led to the arrested of two of the culprits who were hiding behind the performance stage. The two were found in the possession of four stolen cellphones. Further investigation was conducted and ten more suspects were arrested in the early hours of 1 January 2010 while the suspected thugs were trying to drive away in a combi.
They were found in possession of 18 stolen cellphones and one navigator. The combi, which had been hired in Gauteng, was also confiscated. The suspects, aged between 21 and 27, will appear in the Magistrates’ Court on 12 January 2010 for a formal bail application. Story by NRM. Netshiunda (015) 290 6276; Cellphone: 079 297 4857 robert.mukurob@gmail.com http://www.sapsjournalonline.gov.za/dynamic/journal_dynamic.aspx?pageid=414&jid=18080
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Zuma convoy crashes enroute to Durban airport: two cops injured
2010-01-07 Durban - Two police officers were injured on the M4 on Thursday while they were escorting President Jacob Zuma to Durban’s International Airport, KwaZulu-Natal emergency services said. “Two policemen on motorbikes fell while escorting the president to the airport on the M4 near Clairwood race course,” said Netcare 911’s Jeff Wicks. He said a policeman on a motor bike hit a bump and fell, another came from behind and hit him. Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya confirmed that the president left Durban for Kimberley at around midday. http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/807d987d80ac45f1b1024b32d2430b6a/07-01-2010-02-48/Zuma_convoy_crashes
Armed robber of many Witbank families inside their homes shot dead by police:
WITBANK. SAPS Captain Leonard Hlathi says an escaped suspected armed robber of at least a dozen Witbank families was shot dead by police in the Coronation squatter camp in Witbank on the night of 31 December 2009. A police-inspector was also arrested for aiding in the escape of five prisoners in the same incident.
Earlier on New Year’s eve, five suspected armed robbers who were in the police holding cells had escaped from the Witbank Police Station: they had somehow smuggled in a saw, which they used to cut the steel cross bars and climbed over the cell door to escape.
“The policeman who had been on duty that night, Inspector Simon Mashele, 56, apparently did not lock the cell door. He was arrested and charged with aiding the suspects to escape.” Inspector Mashele was released on warning and his case postponed to 18 March 2010.
Meanwhile during the police search for the escapees, a Mozambican national, Forever Manyiasa, 21, was shot dead in the Coronation Squatter camp in Witbank. “Manyisa allegedly grabbed and took an R5 rifle by force from a policeman. Another policeman who was also at scene, then shot and fatally wounded Manyisa.”
The man had been picked up as a suspect in eight house robberies in Evander, two in Leslie near Secunda and several cases of house robberies in Witbank and had been in the police cell, awaiting his participation in identification parades.
Hlathi noted that only a day earlier, Provincial Commissioner Thulane Ntobela had issued a stern warning to all members of the South African Police Service and Station Commanders in Mpumalanga that he ‘will not tolerate escapes from lawful custody’. Contact: Captain L. Hlathi, Witbank SAPS cellphone: 082 462 0804 http://www.sapsjournalonline.gov.za/dynamic/journal_dynamic.aspx?pageid=414&jid=18070
Murder suspect of municipal councillor in Nongoma KZN shot dead by police
An unnamed man who was suspected of killing Nongoma municipality ‘s councillor Nathi Mthethwa has been shot dead by police, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Tuesday.
Police confronted Skumbuzo Zikhali in his home on Monday night and a shootout ensued, Director Phindile Radebe said. "The police members went to the house in the Sundumbili area in northern KwaZulu-Natal where he was hiding out. When the police officials entered the home the suspect opened fire on them. The police returned fire and the suspect was fatally wounded."A 9mm pistol was found in his possession.The Independent Complaints Directorate would investigate the shooting. -Source Url: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?art_id=nw20100105122927553C622232
Beitbridge ‘SAPS brutality’ caught on tape
Journalist Imraan Karolia reports on Radio 702 Eyewitness News from Johannesburg that dozens of angry travellers into South Africa from Zimbabwe claim they were ‘subjected to police brutality at the Beitbridge Border Post’. Some were were whipped and sprayed with water from a garden hose. More than 60 000 people have used the crossing point in the past five days.
The video clip shows that the police members were trapped against a door and were being assailed by hundreds of rowdy travellers which clearly were not under control.
Eyewitness News is in possession of this video footage featuring travellers at the Beitbridge Border Post being attacked by a man who appears to be a South African police officer. “Some [ travellers ] admit the queues were lengthy and there was insufficient crowd control but travellers said this did not give police the right to become violent. The South African side was chaotic; we are treated like animals and whipped by police,” said one traveller. “They were being sprayed with water and whipped; I think that was totally disgusting,” said a man who filmed the alleged abuse. The video was handed over to the Police Ministry which is yet to respond.
Official arrested for taking a bribe: Just a week earlier, a home affairs official also was arrested for allegedly taking a bribe from a Zimbabwean national at Beit Bridge border post in Limpopo, police said. Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo said the man was arrested after a Zimbabwean laid a complaint to the police about the official soliciting a bribe from him on Wednesday night. When the official was arrested, police recovered R2000 and a R100 fake note on him. He would face a charge of corruption. "We encourage people to follow in the footsteps of the man who reported this official to the police. This is the most effective way to root out corruption," said Naidoo. http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/article241598.ece http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=29760
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Can the abaThembu tribe secede from South Africa
by Pierre De Vos writing on his blog “Constitutionally Speaking” --
Jan 7 2009 – Johannesburg. “Can those sad folks living in the Afrikaner quasi-homeland of Orania (where they even have a monument to the Koeksister!) secede from South Africa if they decide they do not like to be governed by the ANC government anymore and would rather do Volkspele and play Jukskei (a game so tedious that it makes bowls look as exciting as Formula 1 racing) in their own country with their own Constitution?
“For that matter, can any other group living within the borders of South Africa who disagree with the policies of the ANC government decide to break away and form their own country?
I ask, because I see the Daily Dispatch is reporting that the AbaThembu nation may or may not want to secede from South Africa, pending a discussion by the nation. After a meeting held by traditional leaders close to King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo on Tuesday it was apparently decided not to secede – yet.
Dalindyebo last year was convicted of crimes including, arson, assault, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice. He was sentenced to an effective 15 years in jail by the Mthatha High Court, which later granted him leave to appeal against both conviction and sentence but he really does not believe that he is subject to the Rule of Law and is rather cross that the court had the cheek to find him guilty and brand him as a criminal merely for burning down a few houses, torturing a few people and causing the death of a young man.
Well, both the folks in Orania and King Dalindyebo and his cronies will not have much luck if they wish to secede from South Africa as the Constitution does not allow for it. Section 1 of the Constitution establishes South Africa as one, sovereign, democratic state, while section 3 states that there will be a common South African citizenship and that national legislation must regulate the acquisition and loss of citizenship.
As a sop to right-wing Afrikaners the Constitution also includes a provision on self-determination but this will be of little help to the folks of Orania or to the King and his cronies. Section 235 states:
‘The right of the South African people as a whole to self-determination, as manifested in this Constitution, does not preclude, within the framework of this right, recognition of the notion of the right of self-determination of any community sharing a common cultural and language heritage, within a territorial entity in the Republic or in any other way, determined by national legislation.’
This section therefore provides for some form of self-determination, but only within the existing borders of South Africa and only as provided for by national legislation. Unless Parliament passes a law to provide some form of self-rule for the folks of Orania or for the abaThembu, they have no legal way of breaking away from South Africa.
This is in line with international law which generally endorses the view that the right to secede was meant for peoples under a colonial rule or foreign occupation. Otherwise, so long as a people has the meaningful exercise of its right to self-determination within an existing nation state, there is no right to secede unilaterally from the nation in terms of international law.
In any case, its a good thing that King Dalindyebo has decided not to take any steps yet to try and secede from South Africa as he might well get into even more trouble if he does so. This is because unlawful action (that is, action outside the mechanisms provided for in the Constitution) taken by a person owing allegiance to a state with the intent to threaten or endanger the security of the state or to change the constitutional structure of the state would constitute the crime of treason.
The King, his advisors and his lawyer should therefore be careful not to do anything that could be perceived to undermine the territorial integrity of the South African state. They would be free to petition the President or launch a campaign to try and convince the legislature to grant them some form of self-determination as such actions would be lawful, but if they act in a manner not provided for by the Constitution in a purported attempt to secede from South Africa they would be guilty of a very serious crime of treason.
Of course, the King is already guilty of another very serious crime, namely making a complete fool of himself. Maybe all the stress will get to him and he could then be released on medical parole because he was in the last stages of a terminal illness to die a dignified death. After all, that story seemed to have worked for Schabir Shaik. http://constitutionallyspeaking.co.za/can-the-abathembu-secede-from-south-africa/
Afrikaner pensioner mysteriously missing in Welkom
Jacobus Johannes Erasmus, 66, missing from Welkom house on Dec 29 2009…
2010-01-07 Welkom - Police in Welkom are searching for a 66-year-old Afrikaner man who has gone missing. Jacobus Johannes Erasmus disappeared from his house under "suspicious conditions" on December 29, Free State police captain Stephen Thakeng said. "The same night, there was an attempt to withdraw cash from the bank account of Erasmus, but it failed." Erasmus was last seen wearing a greyish jersey and was carrying a bag. Police asked anyone with information about his whereabouts to call Detective Inspector Benita Harmse on 079-528-4811.http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/6b3ee0a42b4243e68b2374659af20956/07-01-2010-08-05/Pensioner_missing_in_WelkomLeading citizens murdered, attacked Jan 2010
Braam Greyling, 36, actor, shot while working as a body guard of Springs, dies 21 days later
Jan 6 2009 - Braam Greyling, 36, former Springs policeman, tough-guy actor and body guard, died 21 days after he was shot during an armed attack while protecting an unnamed client on December 12 2009.
Sonja van Buul reports that Greyling, 36, also widely known for his toughie acts in major advertising campaigns, died in the Glynnwood hospital in Benoni’s intensive care unit. He played in the movie ‘Berserker” and can still be seen in TV ads for Ford Motor Company’s Bantams, Carnaval City, Standard Bank, Total and Kentucky Fried Chicken – where he famously played a Boere-rugby-supporter who opens two beer-bottles with his eyes to intimidate supporters of an opposing team with. He also participated in the MTN TV gladiators contest and Strongman competitions. Greyling’s brother Don du Plessis said he leaves three daughters, Leané (15) and nine-year-old twins Anya en Annika.
He’s also survived by his mom Mrs Connie Vosloo of Springs, another brother Mike Vosloo (39) of Rustenburg, ans two sisters Connie Vosloo (44) of East London, SA and Mrs Phyllis Muller (47) of Springs.
His cremation service is from the Dutch Reformed Church Presidentsoord in Springs. http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/08fcccf9767b40298f82eab3452c7549/07-01-2010-12-32/Die_‘Bantam-man’_beswyk
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20100106 Koos and Retha van Zyl, 63 and 66, murdered on farm ‘like animals’ says FS police
ODENDAALSRUS, FREE STATE Jan 6 2009 - Farmer Koos van Zyl (63) and his wife Retha (66), a much loved local teacher who had just retired, were ‘slaughtered like animals’ on their farm Poortjie in the Free State on January 5 2009, reports Volksblad newspaper.They were first attacked and cruelly mutilated with a meathook, and then shot dead with their own shotgun, said police. Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha described the scene as “absolute carnage’ after paramedics arrived. It was the second farm attack in the Odendaalsrust district within a week.
A 27-year-old suspect has been arrested, while fleeing in their daughter Marietjie’s red Chevrolet Avea sedan with a stolen sheep. Sergeant Majang Mosupa of the Free State police said Mrs Van Zyl had apparently gone outside to turn on the electricity generator when she was attacked. It is suspected that the attacker, a former labourer who was fired for stealing from the couple only a day earlier, had apparently turned off the generator off to her outside. Mr Van Zyl, who was frail and very ill, was then attacked in the kitchen with a meathook which slashed open his neck and head, said Mosupa, while Mrs Van Zyl, who had also been attacked several times with the meathook, then was tied up and dragged through the homestead. The couple then both were shot in their chests with a shotgun.
Farmer Frik Ras survives FS farm attack – not reported by police
Local community members are heartbroken, saying that the ill Mr Van Zyl would not have been able to defend himself, he was just too frail. The man fled in the daughter’s car, uploading a sheep from the Van Zyl farm and later also picking up a passenger, said police. Police reservists constables Thapelo Mponeng and Moeti Mokoatsi of the Odendaalsrust visible policing unit spotted the missing vehicle with the sheep inside -- which had been reported stolen -- and contacted their colleagues for assistance. The police team then arrested the suspect, whose name has not yet been released. Jan de Villiers, the security official for the Emdonio farmers’ association, again issued a call to farmers to become active members of the region’s security system. This was the second farm attack within two weeks: farmer Frik Ras was attacked and injured on December 26 2009. “These attacks have been going on since 1994 and those of us who survive, must learn to look after ourselves,’ he said.The murdered couple are survived by three children Erik, Estie and Marietjie. They have no grandchildren., http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/4b76dea38194454caa4bd8888fe80467/06-01-2010-01-02/Carnage_as_2_killed_on_farm http://www.volksblad.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/2114/40cf81af57b94cd694945bbb4e1426f7/07-01-2010-05-17/Egpaar_wreedaardig_vermoor_op_hul_plaas
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200100106 Christa Denicker, 53, shot, seriously injured, Hartsbeespoort NW smallholding
2010-01-07 BRITS NW - Linda de Beer of Beeld newspaper reports that Mrs Christa Denicker, 53, was shot in the hip by armed attackers who had broken into her apartment at an Hartbeespoort smallholding she and her husband Adriaan had only recently moved into. Police superintendent Lesogo Metsi of NorthWest police said she was shot in the hop and taken to a local hospital in ‘serious but stable’ condition. Romano van der Spuy, chairman of the local policing-community forum, said the owner of an adjacent plot called the police when she heard the shots. The attackers fled on foot into the thick undergrowth. http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/a6ff3ab6f6a9482d9a86beded1cb7a71/07-01-2010-12-32/Vrou_in_roof_by_woonstel_op_hoewe_in_heup_geskiet http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/1ce7d11ee31d411480ef4d20d3d8b10f/06-01-2010-05-04/NW_woman_shot_in_farm_robbery
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Judge Mahomed Ismael of Pretoria High Court shot through throat: survives
2010-01-06 Philip de Bruin of Beeld newspaper reports that acting Pretoria High Court judge Mahomed Ismael escaped death by a millimetre when he was shot through the neck by an attacker at his hope in Parkview, Johannesburg early on Monday morning. The bullet went clean through – barely missing his vocal cords and arteries. Judge Ismael said he was woken up by his wife’s screams, got out of bed, saw an armed man, and tried to get into a room and close the door. “In the process when I was closing the door, he shot and hit me. I was able to close the door and call for help. The attackers, there were more than one, fled with empty hands’, he said. At hospital a doctor told him he could ‘thank his lucky stars that you’re still alive’. He was discharged on Tuesday-morning and hopes to be back at work after the court recess, he said. http://www.beeld.com/Content/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/1928/903bf35159d742cf8f62309f9395b6a8/06-01-2010-11-29/Regter_se_nekslagaar_net-net_misgeskiet
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