A man was arrested in Soweto on Wednesday morning for possession of dagga with a street value of R300,000, Gauteng police said.
“Police this morning received information of a man who was allegedly transporting dagga to Soweto,” Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said.
When the man arrived at the house where he would offload the drugs, police were waiting for him.
Five 80kg bags of dagga were confiscated.
The man would appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. – Sapa
A 12-year-old boy was shot and wounded during a protest in Jabulani, Soweto, Gauteng police said on Tuesday.
Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said the boy was shot on Friday.
“It is alleged the boy was shot in the head. By yesterday [Monday] he was still in hospital.
“We do not know who shot him, [it is] between the Johannesburg metro police and the SA Police Service [SAPS]. We are investigating…”
He said residents protested on Friday, demanding that speed bumps be erected on roads, as cars were driving at high speed in the area.
Makhubela said a case of attempted murder was opened on Monday after the police traced the boy’s family.
He said there was a public disturbance during the protest and three people were arrested.
“The three were arrested for malicious damage and public violence. They appeared in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Monday.”
He said the case was postponed to Monday, when they were expected to bring a formal bail application. – Sapa
Police arrested 145 people in Soweto over the weekend, police said on Sunday.
Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said most of those arrested were charged with drunken driving.
The other charges included rape, murder, possession of unlicensed firearms, robbery, possession for dagga, drug dealing, shop lifting and malicious damage to property.
“These people were arrested around Lenasia, Lenasia South, Jabulani, Moroka, Dobsonville, Naledi and Protea Glen,” said Makhubela.
They would appear in various Johannesburg courts soon. – Sapa
A Johannesburg man has been arrested for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in Zondi, Soweto, police said on Tuesday.
The 10-year-old girl was playing with other children in the street at around 6pm when the man allegedly approached her and took her back to his shack, Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said.
One of the children alerted their aunt, who went to the man’s shack with other people accompanying her.
The girl had been raped and the 35-year-old man was reported to the police.
He was arrested and was expected to appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court soon, Makhubela said. – Sapa
A woman appeared in the Meadowlands Magistrate’s Court in the north of Soweto, the black township, after cutting off her boyfriend’s penis, Gauteng police said on Monday.
The woman caught her boyfriend with another woman on Sunday and ordered them to strip naked, said Constable Sibusiso Chauke.
“It is alleged that the woman took out the knife and cut off her boyfriend’s penis,” said Chauke.
Chauke said the 21-year-old woman was arrested the same day.
“The woman failed to pay the R2500 bail money and was remanded in custody till October 23.” – Sapa
Businessman Richard Maponya criticised the government and black economic empowerment in an interview published in the Sowetan on Monday.
“It (BEE) is not a real thing because it takes away the self-initiative needed from young and up and coming entrepreneurs who must wake up and want to do the things themselves,” he said at the sixth birthday celebrations of Maponya Mall in Soweto on Friday.
He said broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) was a good idea in principle, but in practice it did not always work.
“I really blame our government for the economic situation because we are nearly 20 years into our new dispensation but we have not come up with a bank that would give people a risk fund.”
He also said black and white business needed to unite, but added that white business people and foreigners should not be allowed to dominate business in townships.
“Soweto has suddenly become a place where white business people want to do business, when small entrepreneurs of the area should be given an opportunity to own business here,” said Maponya. – Sapa
A 65-year-old man was arrested in Zola, Soweto, on Sunday in connection with the rape of his 4-year-old granddaughter, Soweto police said.
“The parents saw discharge on the child and asked her what happened, and she told them it was her grandfather,” said Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela.
Makhubela said the matter was only reported to police on Sunday.
“The incident happened on Thursday but the man was arrested today,” Makhubela said.
The man would appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Monday. – Sapa
The body of a baby was found in an open area in Braamfischerville, Soweto on Wednesday, Gauteng police said.
The body was without arms and legs, making it difficult to determine the gender, Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said.
An inquest docket was opened and police were investigating.
Makhubela appealed to residents who might have information to contact Dobsonville police station. – Sapa
A former Soweto police reservist accused of promising people jobs in exchange for money has been arrested, Gauteng police said on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old man was taken into custody on Tuesday night after one of the people who paid him R5000 opened a case, said Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela.
“He recruited unemployed people promising them jobs in the SA Police Service,” he said.
The man who reported him to police had paid him R5000 as a “recruitment fee”.
He would appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of theft under false pretences, said Makhubela. – Sapa
A black man accused of killing his girlfriend has been arrested in Emdeni, Soweto police said on Sunday.
He was taken into custody on Saturday night after his girlfriend was found dead in his bedroom, said Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela.
He was among 217 people arrested around the black area Soweto for various crimes including rapes, armed robbery, hijacking and drunk driving.
A total of 29 illegal shebeens were shut down, said Makhubela.
The arrested would appear in the Protea, Orlando, Lenasia and Roodepoort magistrate’s courts on Monday. – Sapa
A 67-year-old Johannesburg white man allegedly mistreated by staff at two flagship academic hospitals is in danger of losing a leg.
Earl Harper and his family believe that he is being mistreated because he is white.
“I’m a nice person and treat people nicely, but when you are confronted by nasty people you start thinking rubbish.”
In continuous pain from an unhealed injury sustained in a scooter accident, Harper this week once again sought medical attention for the gaping wound in his right leg.
This time, he hoped, black doctors and nurses at the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital would treat him better than on the previous five times he sought help.
“I have nowhere to go but a public hospital. All I have is my pride and they are taking that away,” he wept.
His medical nightmare began at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto, on June 20 immediately after the accident.
After a seven-hour wait and enduring what he called the “bad attitude” of black hospital staff, Harper was stitched up and sent home with a few packets of painkillers. He alleges that the Baragwanath team did not clean the wound properly.
This week the former credit manager and father of two claimed that staff at Charlotte Maxeke ignored his request for a bedpan during his five-hour wait for treatment and left him to wet himself.
His son, Eric, phoned The Times from East London, fearing his father would again be sent home without proper treatment for the wound – which is so deep that bone is exposed.
The Times arrived at the clinic at Charlotte Maxeke as Harper was being examined by three doctors.
Two Netcare/911 paramedics, whose duty was simply to transport him to the hospital, spent three-and-a-half hours there after being told by doctors and nurses that it was their responsibility to open an admission file.
“We just care, that is why we stayed,” they said.
Harper was treated courteously after staff discovered that he was accompanied by media representatives. In the event, he refused to be admitted, fearing that he would not receive adequate medical attention.
Gauteng health department spokesman Simon Zwane told Harper to make an official complaint.
“The department does not condone a negative attitude towards patients and visitors at any of its hospitals and has identified this as a matter that must receive attention.”
But Harper said it would be futile: “I complained before and the paperwork was never sent to me. I am old, sick and so tired. I would rather die than be treated like a dog.” – timeslive.co.za
Fifteen illegal taverns around Soweto were shut down on the weekend, Gauteng police said on Sunday.
“The owners were arrested and the liquor confiscated,” said Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela.
He said the taverns were found in Eldorado Park, Zola, Diepkloof, Protea Glen and Dobsonville.
A number of other arrests in those areas were conducted on Saturday night – many related to drug dealing and abuse.
Makhubela said the arrested would appear in various magisrate’s courts on Monday. – Sapa
South Africa’s national team will have an outline image of Nelson Mandela on a sleeve of their shirts when they tackle Argentina Saturday in the Rugby Championship.
A Springboks spokesman said a logo that included the image would be worn by each player, and captain Jean de Villiers vowed his team would triumph to “make Madiba smile”.
Most South Africans call Mandela, a long-time political prisoner who in 1994 became the first democratically elected president of the republic, by his clan name Madiba.
“We are ready to play for Madiba and to bring a smile to his face by defeating Argentina,” centre De Villiers, 32, said after a warm-up session at the match venue.
“Every game you play for the Springboks is special and if you add to that playing for Madiba as well, then suddenly the occasion just becomes massive.
“This is an occasion to celebrate the life of a fantastic man and of a person who has given so much to rugby, to sport, and to the country,” said 87-cap De Villiers.
It is the first time an outline image of a person will appear on the green and gold shirt, which traditionally carries a sponsor logo, the national sport emblem, and a leaping Springbok.
The match is part of a historic day of sport at the 94,000-seat Soccer City stadium in Soweto that also features a friendly match between the national soccer team and Burkina Faso.
Branded the ‘Nelson Mandela Sport and Culture Day’, the event includes a football match between former South African and Italian stars and a music concert.
International icon Mandela turned 95 during July in a Pretoria hospital, where he has spent more than two months after being admitted for a recurring lung infection.
The latest official bulletin on his condition said Mandela remained “critically ill”, but doctors added that the former president “is making a slow but steady improvement”.
While president, Mandela had a huge influence on rugby and football, inspiring the Springboks to win the 1995 World Cup and Bafana Bafana (The Boys) to win the Africa Cup of Nations a year later.
A government brainchild, the Sport Day stages two football matches before the pitch markings are changed and the goals give way to posts during a 90-minute pre-Test break.
“We have practiced the changes several times and are confident they will be done quickly,” said a Soccer City management spokesman.
The organisers, who say they sold 50,000 tickets by Friday, believe it is the first time national football and rugby teams have played in the same stadium on the same day.
Tickets range between $22 (16.50 euros) and $50 and with the cheapest $18 more expensive than for local football fixtures, there is concern that more affluent rugby supporters may dominate the crowd.
While the Springboks lost two previous Tests at the Soweto ground — to the New Zealand All Blacks in 2010 and 2012 — they are favoured to make it 15 wins in 16 outings against the Pumas.
But there is less optimism about Bafana Bafana, who were outplayed by African champions Nigeria two days ago and lucky to lose only 2-0 in Durban. – AFP
Protea South protesters, who were arrested for public violence and looting since Thursday in Soweto, have been released on bail.
They spent the long weekend in holding cells. 25 people including four minors were arrested after a service delivery protest turned violent. They were all granted R800 bail.
The case has been postponed to next Monday for further investigations. The State is yet to quantify the damage caused during the protests.
There are concerns that the violence could continue. Police are in maintaining a close watch in the area.
