Thousands of people marched through Johannesburg on Saturday, calling for an end to the violence that has killed at least 50 African migrants and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. People in Hillbrow, home to many African immigrants, cheered the march, which was organised by churches and labour unions.
Metrorail has beefed up security in response to possible xenophobic attacks on train commuters, it said on Wednesday. ”Our own protection services, the South African railway police and contracted security staff have been beefed up in response to the perceived threat and in support of our security plan,” the company said in a statement.
Police were monitoring the situation in Alexandra on Monday following a suspected xenophobic attack that left two people dead and 40 injured, Gauteng police said. Constable Neria Malefetse said security had been tightened and units, including the public-order police unit, were helping to monitor the situation.
Two ATMs, one in Boksburg North and one in Brakpan, were bombed early on Thursday morning by gangs of about 20 people, Gauteng police said. Brakpan police spokesperson Captain Petros Mabuza said an ATM at the Dalview Shell garage was blown up after about 20 people held up garage staff at about 1.30am on Thursday.
A 44-year-old pilot who died in a light aircraft crash in the Krugersdorp Game Reserve on Tuesday had requested to make an emergency landing at Lanseria Airport, Gauteng police said on Wednesday. Captain Jacob Raboroko said that the pilot, Trevor Emmanuel, was flying from Durban to an unknown destination when his aircraft ran low on fuel.
Police have warned people in Gauteng who sell goods through advertising publications to meet their prospective buyers at police stations because robbers and fraud convicts have been targeting advertisers. Police spokesperson Captain Jan Sepato said that criminals had been responding to advertisements and then either defrauded the seller with false cheques or robbed them.
Police were searching for three men — one of whom raped a 35-year-old woman in front of her six-year-old child in their house in Leeufontein in the Roodeplaat area. Captain Jan Sepato said the woman and her husband were asleep on Monday night in their house in the Pebble Rock complex in Leeufontein when the gang struck.
Two men who shot and killed a two-year-old baby during a house robbery last year were sentenced to life imprisonment plus 20 years by the Johannesburg High Court on Friday, police said. Steve Hlongwane (18) and George Nyangale (22) broke into a house in Lyndhurst on April 12 last year.
The South African Communist Party has asked the South African Police Service to finalise its investigation into a donation scandal after an internal audit cleared their secretary general Blade Nzimande. The SACP audit was set up to investigate the whereabouts of R500 000 donated to the party by controversial businessman Charles Modise.
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/ 10 January 2008
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) made a ”concerted effort” to undermine investigations into Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel and prevent his prosecution, Gauteng police said on Thursday. In a statement, Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said prosecutors had refused to look at evidence presented to them in September, which implicated Nel in criminal activity.
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/ 8 November 2007
Gauteng police communications have not been jeopardised by the introduction of the 10111 digital radio network, Superintendent Eugene Opperman said on Thursday. He was responding to media reports that the R600-million system had crippled communications at police stations across Johannesburg.
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/ 7 November 2007
Almost 6 000 people marched in the Johannesburg city centre on Wednesday, protesting against police murders in Gauteng. The march was organised by the Gauteng Provincial Community Policing Forum in partnership with police and Liquor Traders against Crime.
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/ 6 November 2007
More South African police officers were killed in the 11 years since the end of apartheid than in the previous period, a new study that highlights one of the world’s highest crime rates showed on Tuesday. The South African Institute of Race Relations said 1 894 police officers were killed between 1995 and 2005.
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/ 5 November 2007
A gunman shot and wounded an employee and killed a patient at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital on Monday afternoon, Gauteng police said. The man entered the hospital during visiting hours at about 3.45pm and opened fire, said Captain Phillemon Khorombi. ”He shot a 52-year-old female employee and a male patient aged 35.”
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/ 5 November 2007
A woman’s body was found in a carrier bag that was left with a Johannesburg street vendor by an unknown man on Monday, Gauteng police said. Spokesperson Superintendent Eugene Opperman said a man left a carrier bag with a vendor on the corner of Pritchard and Goud streets.
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/ 2 November 2007
A former dormitory employee at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Johannesburg has been arrested, Gauteng police said on Friday. Police spokesperson Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said the 27-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday by the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit on several charges of abuse.
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/ 29 October 2007
One of South Africa’s most wanted criminals was caught on Monday after Gauteng police received information from the public about his whereabouts. Police spokesperson Inspector Richard Munyai said Mkhonto Mandla Cele (27) was one of the most wanted and dangerous criminals in Jeppestown and KwaZulu-Natal.
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/ 25 October 2007
Ten men and a sangoma are to appear in the Westonaria Magistrate’s Court after they were arrested for the murder and armed robbery of a Jagfontein man, Gauteng police said on Thursday. The 70-year-old owner of Ashvalley Bricks and Sand was shot in the upper body while his wife and son were tied up.
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/ 23 October 2007
Gauteng police are investigating a case of abuse by an employee at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. This followed an internal investigation of ”misconduct” by the dorm parent against girls at the school, located in Henley-on-Klip, Meyerton, south of Johannesburg.
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/ 22 October 2007
Members of the Evaton community attacked police after a three-year-old boy was killed by a drunk driver, Gauteng police said on Monday. The mob wanted police to hand the driver over to them, spokesperson Captain William Velaphi Mcera said. The incident took place on Bengu Road in Evaton on Sunday afternoon.
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/ 20 October 2007
A crack team of detectives was on Friday hunting for the killers of reggae star Lucky Dube as public outrage against violent crime mounted. Gauteng’s police commissioner Perumal Naidoo has hand-picked a team of investigators to track down Dube’s killers.
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/ 19 October 2007
With just a day left to the Rugby World Cup final, a man has been fined in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court for trading in counterfeit Springbok jerseys, Gauteng police said on Friday. The owner of a shop at Value Mall in Boksburg was arrested on Thursday for being in possession of and trading in counterfeit Springbok jerseys.
Hundreds of University of Johannesburg students were protesting on their campuses on Monday morning, Gauteng police confirmed. Police spokesperson Constable Sefako Xaba said police had been called to the campus on Bunting Road where about 200 students had gathered.