A University of Johannesburg (UJ) student was hijacked on campus and robbed, police said on Friday.
An armed man approached the 23-year-old student while she was parking in the university’s Kingsway campus parking lot at 9am on Thursday, said Constable Elizabeth Mnguni.
He pointed a firearm at her and told her to move over to the passenger seat.
The man drove out of the campus to an empty parking lot where he tied her hands, put her in the boot of the car, and drove to an ATM.
“She says she gave him the pin because he promised to hurt her [if she did not],” said Mnguni.
The man left her in an open area in Eldorado Park, where she was later found.
“They took her to the police station where a carjacking case was opened, but transferred to Brixton where the crime happened,” Mnguni said.
UJ spokesman Herman Esterhuizen said the university had launched an internal investigation into what happened.
“Arrangements are being made to meet with the alleged victim so that we can extend our support by counselling etc, and to get a better understanding of what happened,” he said.
“The safety of students is of highest priority.” – Sapa
A staggering 40 million euro ($53 million) worth of diamonds and other jewels was stolen Sunday from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, in one of Europe’s biggest jewelry heists in recent years, police said. One expert noted the crime follows recent jail escapes by members of the notorious “Pink Panther” jewel thief gang.
The hotel in the sweltering French Riviera was hosting a temporary jewelry exhibit over the summer from the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.
A police spokesman said the theft took place around noon, but he could not confirm local media reports that the robber was a single gunman who stuffed a suitcase with the gems before making a swift exit. The spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter on the record.
The luxury Carlton hotel featured prominently in Alfred Hitchcok’s “To Catch a Thief,” which starred Cary Grant as a reformed burglar chasing a jewel thief. It is situated on the exclusive Promenade de la Croisette that stretches a mile and a half (2.4 kilometers) along the French Riviera, and is thronged by the rich and famous throughout the year. The hotel’s position provides not only a beautiful view of the sea but also an easy getaway for potential jewel thieves along the long stretch of road.
“It’s a huge theft. Anytime you talk about a heist with many millions of dollars it turns heads and feeds the imagination,” said Jonathan Sazonoff, U.S. editor for the Museum Security Network website and an authority on high-value crime.
He said the likelihood of recovering the stolen diamonds and jewels is slim, because the thieves can easily sell them. “The fear is, if you’re dealing with high-quality minerals, it’s hard to get them back,” Sazonoff said. “They can be broken up and so they can be easily smuggled and sold.”
The valuable gems were supposed to be on public display until the end of August. It was not immediately clear how many pieces were stolen.
Leviev, in a brief statement, said: “Company officials are cooperating with local authorities investigating the loss and are relieved that no one was injured in the robbery.”
Several police officers were placed in front of the Carlton exhibition room – near a Cartier diamond boutique – to prevent the dozens of journalists and photographers from getting a look at the scene of the crime.
Hotel officials would not comment, and attempts to get comments from Leviev or his company were not immediately successful.
Europe has been struck by several brazen jewelry thefts in recent years, some of which have involved tens of millions of dollars in treasure.
On Feb. 18 in Belgium, some $50 million worth of diamonds were stolen. In that heist, robbers targeted stones from the global diamond center of Antwerp that had been loaded on a plane headed to Zurich. Authorities have since detained dozens of people and recovered much of the items stolen in that operation.
Five years ago, in December 2008, armed robbers wearing women’s wigs and clothing made off with diamond rings, gem-studded bracelets and other jewelry said then to be worth $108 million from a Harry Winston boutique in Paris.
Also in 2008 – in February of that year – in a scene reminiscent of the movie “The Italian Job,” masked thieves drilled a tunnel into a Damiani jewelry company showroom in Milan, Italy. They tied up the staff with plastic cable and sticky tape, then made off with gold, diamonds and rubies worth some $20 million. The robbers had been digging for several weeks from a building under construction next door.
Cannes appears to be a favorite target this year – in May it was struck by other two highly publicized jewelry heists during the Cannes Film Festival.
In the first theft, robbers stole about $1 million worth of jewels after ripping a safe from the wall of a hotel room. In the second, thieves outsmarted 80 security guards in an exclusive hotel and grabbed a De Grisogono necklace that creators said is worth 2 million euros ($2.6 million).
Sazonoff said it is normal for robbers to gravitate to a place like Cannes, whose glimmering harbor and glamorous film festival attract the world’s rich and famous. “Why do thieves target Cannes? It’s simple … On the Cote d’Azur, it’s where the monied people flow,” he said.
Sazonoff also said police would likely probe whether Sunday’s heist is linked to recent jail escapes by alleged members of the Pink Panther jewel thief gang.
On Thursday, gang member Milan Poparic escaped his Swiss prison after accomplices rammed a gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47s, police said.
Police say the Pink Panther network’s members are prime suspects in a series of daring thefts. According to Interpol, the group has targeted luxury watch and jewelry stores in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States, netting more than ?330 million (£285m) since 1999.
Poparic is the third member of the Pink Panthers to escape from a Swiss prison in as many months, according to Vaud police.
“The brazen drama of it is their style… The possibility of the reemergence of the Pink Panther gang is very troubling and taken seriously by law enforcement worldwide,” Sazonoff said. “The theft of high value diamonds is exactly what they do, so it’s not a great leap to assume they are on the warpath again. They are a crime wave waiting to happen.” – AP
One of Mpumalanga’s most wanted criminals, suspected drug-leader Douglas Mogakane, will appear in the Mhala Magistrate’s Court in Thulamahashe on Thursday.
A Sapa correspondent reported that Mogakane would appear in connection with more than 10 charges including from murder, armed robbery and carhijacking.
Mogakane, 27, was arrested in Pretoria after an armed robbery in July last year after he escaped from custody in Skukuza police cells on August 4, 2011.
On Tuesday, he appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of business robbery, committed in Pretoria after his escape, which led to his arrest.
He was refused bail and the case was postponed to August 14, for further investigation.
Mogakane was transferred to Mpumalanga to face his other charges, police said.
“Mogakane is alleged to have committed a series of atrocious crimes including rapes, business robberies, armed robberies, house robberies, murder, car hijackings, theft of motor vehicle and possession of unlicensed firearms,” spokesman police spokesman Colonel Leonard Hlathi.
He said Mogakane would appear along with two others who are accused of being part of his gang.
“We hope the court does not grant him bail until his trial. After his escape from the Skukuza police cells Mogakane reportedly continued to terrorise the community of Mpumalanga, allegedly raping women, killing people and also hijacking cars,” said Hlathi.
Hlathi said some trial dates had been set.
“In some of his alleged cases, a trial date has been scheduled to take place during September, 11. He will not face the trial in the magistrate’s court but in regional court.” – Sapa
A West Rand man has been sentenced to 28 years in prison by the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court for raping and robbing a 13-year-old boy, Beeld reported on Tuesday.
“In prison you can rape prisoners if you feel like it; at least you won’t be around little children,” magistrate Herman Badenhorst was quoted as telling Neo Molaudzi on Monday.
Molaudzi reportedly attacked the teenager, who is now 14, while he walking to school in September 2012. He threatened the youth with a piece of broken glass and pulled him into an alley where he raped him and robbed him of R10.
According to Beeld, Molaudzi, 22, said he was sorry for the crimes and that he felt “under pressure from the court”, but at the same time denied raping the boy.
Badenhorst reportedly said: “You forgot your semen was found on the boy. You have already been convicted, I’m sure you feel under pressure.”
Molaudzi had previously repeatedly been convicted of burglary and theft.
“You are clearly a danger and I need you out of the community as long as possible,” Badenhorst said.
The newspaper reported that Molaudzi asked for leave to appeal, but Badenhorst refused and said the DNA evidence was overwhelming, the rapist’s testimony had been false and he had tried to mislead the court. – Sapa
We are a very proud nation. Not when we rape our women, children and infants, murder each other in droves, commit racial, xenophobic and homophobic atrocities, but when we become all patriotic and go on the defensive after our failings are pointed out by outsiders, in this case the Americans.
Preceding Obama’s visit to our country, the US issued a crime warning to tourists stating that “violent and confrontational crime is a major concern [in South Africa]” and goes on to point out Pretoria, Joburg, Durban and Cape Town as “critical crime threat spots”. Many South Africans of course didn’t like this and launched their own counter attack at the US on social media. To sum up the types of responses:
Crime happens everywhere
US is number 1 in crime
SA crime is blown out of proportion
Now coming from a corporate environment I refuse to stick my head in the sand and deny any problems without doing some research. In that way we can identify if we have a problem and if so, take corrective action.
2011/2012 Crime Research & Statistics – SAPS
Murder – 15,609
Culpable homicide – 11,788
Attempted murder – 14,859
Assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm – 192,651
Robbery with aggravating circumstances – 101,203
Total sexual offences – 64,514
Notes
Our murder rate is reported as 42.7 per day. After including culpable homicide there are 75 new bodies in the morgue per day. This might explain why Interpol reports our murder rate as 80+ per day.
A total of 400,624 from the above violent crimes happened in just one year. Over the last 5 years this figure is close to 2,000,000, conservatively speaking. There are about 160,000 people in jail at this moment (highest in Africa and 9th in the world). Where are these criminals if they’re not in jail?
The above crimes are reported crimes and some members of SAPS have been busted for understating crime statistics which means that the actual number of crimes is actually higher. For instance, it is estimated that in SA, only 1 in 20 incidents of rape are reported. 64,514 x 20 = 1,290,280… per year… and thus claimed the title of Rape Capital of the World.
There are about 53 million people living in SA. Based on the reported violent crimes above and the average South African’s life expectancy, a shocking 52.6, each South African has a 40% chance of being a victim of violent crime in their lifetime.
I have left out the other major categories of crime such as common robbery, common assault, common hijacking, fraud, arson, corruption etc. in order to deal with violent crime only. Taking these into account the average South African will almost certainly be a victim of crime in their lifetime.
Now I’m not going to tell you what to think, you can make up your own mind on if we have a problem. Ignoring the rest of the world, I’d expect that any reasonable person would find the above statistics unacceptable. Personally, I think they are appalling.
Moving on, we should maybe compare ourselves to the rest of the world. Now the rest of the world is pretty big so I’m not going to go into details of all other countries, just a select few, starting with the slandering Americans. (Is the truth slander?)
Murder in America
Firstly, it should be known that Americans themselves confess that the USA is a violent country. Secondly, the USA has a population of about 314 million, six times our population, thus we can expect more crime to occur there. Thirdly, the USA has the highest gun ownership in the world, with 88.8 guns per 100 people according to the UN, with SA lying in 50th place with 12.7 guns per 100 people, a further indicator that they might be more violent than we are. So here are the stats:
Total murders/homicides – 14,612 (2011), 14,748 (2010)
Yes, a country with six times our population and seven times more guns has fewer murders than we do.
Murder in other places
Now because people who complain about crime are told to leave to Australia, Canada, New Zealand etc. we might as well mention these places.
Canada – 598 murders in 2011
New Zealand – 39 murders in 2011
UK – 663 in 2011/2012
Australia – 229 in 2010
One thing is very evident when you visit these places. There are no high walls, no palisade fencing or electric fencing. In fact, residential electric fencing is illegal in these parts. There are no armed response units, police are all that’s necessary. It does not appear that these people live in fear behind their white picket fences.
Hopefully the above information will enlighten some as to what the current situation is in our country. The more you know your country the more can be done about its problems.
A Braamfischerville taxi driver has been sentenced to three life terms and another 30 years for robbery, assault, and raping several women, The Star newspaper reported on Thursday.
Vuledzani Ramulifho lured women into his taxi in Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, by pretending he would take them home.
He then pepper-sprayed their faces, robbed them, and sexually assaulted or raped them.
Judge Naren Pandya said in the High Court in Johannesburg: “How would you feel if someone raped your wife or mother?
“Would you call your mother, sister, or wife a bitch.”
He sentenced him to an effective jail term of 105 years — three life terms for three of the rape counts, 10 years on four other rape charges, 10 years for 10 counts of robbery, five years for 13 counts of rape, and five years for escaping from lawful custody. – Sapa
Six people were wounded when a gang tried to rob a Cape Town shop at the weekend, it was reported on Monday.
The Daily Voice reported that a group of armed men entered a clothing shop in Gugulethu Square on Sunday and demanded cash. Gugulethu is a mainly black area.
A shoot-out ensued between the gang and security guards.
Two guards and two of the armed men were wounded. The armed men fled.
Two people inside the shop were treated for bullet wounds.
Lieutenant Colonel Thembinkosi Kinana told the newspaper no arrests had been made. – Sapa
Four men, including a police officer, were arrested as they allegedly tried to rob a house in Jeppe, Johannesburg police said on Thursday.
They were caught when they arrived at the house belonging to a businessman on Macdonald Street, after police were tipped off on Wednesday morning, Lt-Col Lungelo Dlamini said.
The men were found in possession of several items of police equipment and uniforms. A crime scene jacket, handcuffs, a fraudulent police identity certificate, handcuffs, a service pistol, a shocking stick with police identification marks, and nine cellphones were among the items seized. Three vehicles were impounded.
One of the men was a policeman based at the Johannesburg Central police station.
They were expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Friday on charges of conspiracy to commit house robbery and impersonating police. Investigations were continuing to establish if they could be linked to other crimes. – Sapa
Over 290 people were arrested in the Soweto area over the weekend for various crimes, Gauteng police said on Sunday.
“Police arrested 298 people in Soweto over the weekend,” Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said.
“The people were arrested for various crimes ranging from business robbery, armed robbery, house robbery, murder and sexual offences. From those arrested 190 were arrested for minor crimes.”
One firearm was recovered.
Makhubela said the people were expected to appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court and the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
In a separate incident, police were looking for four people who held up a family in their home in Lenasia.
“The father was stabbed at the back of his head and died. The people fled with all the electric supplies. No arrests have been made and investigations continue.” – Sapa
Chris Barnard (no relation to the heart surgeon) has been attacked at his home near Nelspruit and tied up. He has been injured but apparently not seriously and was treated by paramedics.
The 73-year old writer refused to go to hospital. Mr. Barnard is a famous Afrikaans author who has received the Hertzog Prize twice, in 1973 for his novel Mahala and the short-story collection Duiwel-in-die-bos, as well as for his life’s work in 1991.
His film director wife, Katinka Heyns, was not at home during the attack. The assailants made off with Mr. Barnard’s Isuzu pick-up truck, commonly called a bakkie in South Africa.
According to Sandra Jacobs, the marketing director for the Innibos National Arts Festival in Nelspruit, he was “very traumatised by the incident and did not want to speak to the media”.
A number of Afrikaans authors and intellectuals have been murdered in recent years, including geologist Louw Rabie, brother of the Sestiger Jan Rabie, André Potgieter, Lisbé Smuts-Smith, head of the Afrikaans department at the University of Cape Town, Pieter Pieterse, actor Randall de Jager, among others.
South Africa’s murder rate has dropped by 3.1 percent in the past financial year, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced on Thursday.
Releasing the 2011/12 annual crime statistics at Parliament, Mthethwa said in 2004/5 more than 18,000 people were murdered — now down to less than 16,000.
There had been a 27.6 percent reduction over an eight year period –2004/5 to 2011/12, he said.
Sexual offences had dropped by 3.7 percent.
“We need to emphasise that, as government, we are, however, still concerned about the scourge of rape in our country.
“Rape decreased [by] 1.9 percent, but is [still] unacceptably high,” Mthethwa said.
On organised crime, Mthethwa said this category was showing a downward trend.
“The most highly organised forms of aggravated robberies — namely carjacking, cash-in-transit heists, and bank robbery — have experienced decreases,” he said.
Breaking down the figures, Mthethwa said carjacking decreased by 23.6 percent in 2010/11. A further decrease of 11.9 percent followed in 2011/12.
Cash-in-transit robberies were down by 37.5 percent, and bank robberies by 10.3 percent in 2011/12.
House robberies decrease by 1.9 percent, but business robberies continued to show an upward trend, jumping 7.5 percent.
Mthethwa noted an increase in small business robberies.
“We have now finalised a strategy to combat and reduce robberies at small business… we will be engaging relevant parties to ensure implementation of the strategy within next few weeks,” he said.
Shaun Jordaan and his wife Jeanine. His father took 7 shots protecting the family Photo: Facebook
The white Afrikaner victim of the latest shooting in Muldersdrift, André Jordaan (50), was taken to Baragwanath Hospital, but was not operated on, despite having seven bullets in his body. After having been shot on Thursday evening by a marauding gang of black robbers, the hospital in Soweto promised to do an emergency operation by Friday morning.
However, the operation was not performed and Jordaan died on Saturday night at 22.05. His family, whom Jordaan had literally been taking bullets for while protecting them “like a hero”, is now anxious to know what went wrong. His son Shaun told Beeld newspaper: “We just want to know what went wrong and are desperate to get answers from the hospital. My dad was still quite strong after the shooting until Saturday afternoon.”
Apparently the head of Baragwanath has promised to contact the family about the issue.
Jordaan was shot at least seven times through a closed door while trying to protect his family from the military-style attack by at least four black robbers. Muldersdrift has been the scene of a war on households by criminals and ANC-trained militiamen belonging to the so-called “Task Desk”. Many of the attackers also come from Zimbabwe and may have received military training in Mugabe’s army.
The entire family of six was huddled together in a room behind the door with the assailants trying to break it down. Apart from Mr. Jordaan, there were his son Shaun (26), his wife Isabel (48), another son, Kevin (23), his pregnant girlfriend Mariska (24) and Shaun’s wife, Jeanine (23).
André Jordaan was shot several times, but kept on standing up to throw his body against the door. He was shot three times in the stomach, twice in the chest, as well as in his left arm and right shoulder.
As was reported earlier, three of the attackers were arrested on Friday and will appear today in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court. The killers are believed to be also responsible for the slaying of Alyssa Botha (13), the girl from Monument High School, whose family was also attacked only a few houses away.
There is some controversy over the identity of the murder gang, as some sources claim that they had already been apprehended a week ago but were released by police without appearing in court.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
