No image available
/ 14 January 2008

Charges against Gerrie Nel withdrawn

Charges against Gerrie Nel, the head of the Directorate of Special Operations, or the Scorpions, in Gauteng, were withdrawn in the Pretoria Regional Court on Monday. ”After careful consideration of the evidence in the docket, the decision was made to withdraw the charges,” chief prosecutor Matric Lupondo said during Nel’s brief appearance.

No image available
/ 13 January 2008

Mbeki appoints acting police commissioner

Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi has been granted an extended leave of absence, President Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday. Speaking at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Mbeki said Selebi had requested the leave himself. This follows Friday’s revelations by the National Prosecuting Authority that it was ready to charge Selebi with corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering.

No image available
/ 10 January 2008

Cops: NPA tried to prevent Nel prosecution

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.

No image available
/ 28 December 2007

Search continues for missing aircraft

Rescue services are still searching for the Cessna 210 light aircraft that went missing on Wednesday, said South African Search and Rescue Organisation head Charles Norval on Friday. ”We haven’t had success, but are still searching. The rescue team is following all the leads,” Norval said.

No image available
/ 7 December 2007

Serial rapist Mongezi Jinxela found guilty

Serial rapist Mongezi Jinxela was found guilty in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday on 220 charges of rape, kidnapping, robbery and assault, the National Prosecuting Authority said. Spokesperson Tlali Tlali said Justice George Maluleka found Jinxela guilty of raping 57 women — making him one of the country’s worst serial rape offenders.

No image available
/ 6 December 2007

Opposition lament new crime statistics

Opposition parties have lamented the increases in crime detailed in the latest statistics for April to September, which were released on Thursday. It was deplorable and made a mockery of Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula’s assurances that the crime rate was under control, Democratic Alliance spokesperson Diane Kohler-Barnard said.

No image available
/ 6 December 2007

Mbeki critical of crime issues in APRM report

President Thabo Mbeki took issue with the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) report on South Africa, which suggested that there was an unacceptably high level of violent crime in the country. This emerged when the APRM report was unceremoniously released as part of a post-Cabinet media briefing at the Union Buildings on Thursday.

No image available
/ 6 December 2007

Selebi’s office keeps mum over Agliotti

Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s office did not want to comment on the plea bargaining and 10-year suspended sentence for drug trafficking handed down to Glenn Agliotti on Wednesday. Spokesperson Director Sally de Beer said: ”You must have noticed it was a Scorpions’ case so you will have to phone them.”

No image available
/ 30 November 2007

Acsa launches crime-busting weekend

Fifteen people were arrested during a crime-fighting operation at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport on Friday, said the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa). ”Fifteen people have so far been arrested and 10 vehicles have been impounded,” said Acsa spokesperson Tasniem Patel.

No image available
/ 27 November 2007

DA highlights problem of stock theft

More than 28 000 animals were stolen from farms around the country over the past 18 months, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. Less than 40% of the stock — including game, cattle, sheep and goats — was recovered, DA rural safety spokesperson Ryno King said in a statement.

No image available
/ 24 November 2007

Cape mops up after rain disaster

Western Cape Premier Ibrahim Rasool on Saturday met emergency personnel after a killer storm left two dead and damage estimated at around R600-million. An official of the devastated Eden district municipality said storms that ravaged the Cape have caused damage estimated between R500-million and R600-million to the Poort area.

No image available
/ 14 November 2007

Union to strike at all 2010 sites

The ongoing strike that has seen construction workers down tools at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium could spread to other 2010 Soccer World Cup stadiums that are under construction, as well as the high-speed Gautrain. Meanwhile, about 600 striking construction workers marched to Durban’s City Hall on Wednesday.

No image available
/ 6 November 2007

Violent crime claims heavy toll among police

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.

No image available
/ 31 October 2007

‘SA needs to respect justice and the law’

Crime and violence are a way of life in South Africa and, according to David Bruce of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, respect for justice and the law needs to be fostered. Bruce was speaking at a seminar on <i>The State of Criminal Justice: Building Respect for Justice and Human Rights</i> in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

No image available
/ 26 October 2007

British judge blocks SA ex-cop’s deportation

A judge on Thursday blocked a British decision to deport a South African former police officer who claims he would face violence from gang members if he returned to his homeland. Former sergeant David Andreason, who stopped working as a police officer in 2001 due to stress, fled Durban for Britain after an attempt on his life in 2005.

No image available
/ 23 October 2007

All charges against Zille dropped

All charges brought against Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille for her participation in protest marches have been dropped, the Western Cape director of public prosecutions said on Tuesday. Zille, who is also mayor of Cape Town, was charged in terms of the Regulation of Gatherings Act.

No image available
/ 22 October 2007

Stock theft in SA amounts to nearly R330m

Stock theft in South Africa has amounted to R327 676 500 in the past year, the National Stock Theft Forum said on Monday. ”At the moment, stock theft is hampering the profitability of the stock farmers and it is also interfering with the government’s land-reform process, as well as the empowering of the emerging farmers,” the forum said in a statement.

No image available
/ 18 October 2007

Shopping centres to tighten security

Security measures will be tightened in shopping centres across the country, Business against Crime (BAC) said in Johannesburg on Thursday. Addressing a media conference in Illovo, BAC’s Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane said the prevalence of violent crimes in shopping centres was of serious concern for the government, the business sector and law-abiding citizens.

No image available
/ 16 October 2007

NPA: No imminent arrest of Makhanya

Western Cape police and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Tuesday scoffed at claims that police are about to arrest Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker. ”We wish to state that there is no truth in reports that [they] will be arrested and/or be brought before court this week,” NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said.