eMbalenhle township is one of the places that have many people from various places across the country. As a result, there are many rooms rented out but take extreme caution as thieves are targeting bachelors
Almost all the sections in eMbalenhle have a room that is rented out to an individual.
There is a new criminal activity that is happening around eMbalenhle; thieves are targeting individuals who stay in rented outside rooms.
The thieves come around midnight or in the early hours of the morning. They knock on the door and when the occupant asks: “Who is there?” the thieves keep quiet and eventually leave.
If this happens and no one responds when the thieves knocked, they will break into the room and help themselves to the belongings of the occupant.
In instances where they know that the room is rented by a female occupant, they will try to break in and steal anything they want.
In some sections (extensions 14, 15, 19 and 20) there are groups of gangs who target rooms and commit crimes.
If by any chance someone knocks at your door or next door around midnight or in the early hours of the morning, please call SAPS or anyone that can come to your rescue.
This comes across as organised crime as the thieves target places where there are scheduled power cuts.
Whether you respond or not, criminals will try to break in.
The SAPS in Mpumalanga are warning the public to be extra vigilant of hijackers targeting drivers who often park their vehicles along the roadside.
This warning from the SAPS spirals from hijacking incidents that have occurred previously as well as recent ones, Wednesday 24 June 2020, to be precise, at Vosman and Kabokweni respectively, where victims were hijacked by armed men.
The Kabokweni incident involves a 32-year-old man who was driving his white Ford Ranger, stopped his car to respond to the call of nature but left the engine still idling.
A few moments later, an unknown white Volkswagen Golf abruptly stopped next to his car, the occupants held him at gunpoint and forced him into the boot of the suspects’ car.
The other suspect drove off with the victim’s bakkie and he was later left stranded at an unknown location.
The victim however, managed to make his way to the police station where he reported the ordeal.
Police, in partnership with a tracking company, immediately commissioned an investigation into this matter and recovered the vehicle at Kanyamazane policing precinct on Thursday, 25 June.
On the same day, this time at Vosman near Witbank, a 43-year-old man was robbed by an unknown number of suspects while driving in a white Toyota Club Cab company vehicle on the Clewer road at about 15h00.
The victim explained that the robbery happened when he was making a call while his vehicle parked on the side of the road.
He saw a GWM bakkie which stopped right behind his vehicle and at that time, he was not suspicious of anything as he thought the occupants wanted to enquire if he needs assistance.
Two men alighted from the GWM and approached his vehicle when suddenly one man pointed a firearm at him.
They violently instructed him to drive in the direction they gave him.
The trip ended at an old building where there was an additional six people where the victim was searched and assaulted. They took his bank cards, personal belongings and also forced him to give them the pin codes to his bank cards while he blindfolded with a blanket.
The victim further mentioned that he was left behind guarded by two suspects whilst the others went to help themselves to his money.
The other incident also took place around Vosman policing precinct in which a 57-year-old man was hijacked too.
The victim narrated his plight at the police station.
He was driving his maroon Volkswagen Golf 3 at about 15h30, when he suddenly noticed a green VW Polo driving behind him, he thought that the driver wanted to pass and the complainant moved over to the side of the road giving a right of way to the Polo but the driver of the Polo followed him.
The victim said he tried to drive faster but his efforts to outdrive the Polo failed as he was blocked by the suspects.
Two males alighted from the Polo, got into his vehicle, instructed him to drive in a given direction.
The victim indicated that the suspects stopped at an old building at KaMgewane, tied him up with a rope and he noticed that there was another person who was also suffering the same plight.
The suspects searched him, took his bank cards and personal belongings and then left.
When the dust settled, the first victim managed to untie himself and the the other victim. They both escaped and went to look for help.
The victims landed at Vosman Police Station where they separately opened cases of hijacking and robbery at which the police immediately commenced with their investigations.
It emerged through investigation that the VW Golf was spotted somewhere in the Clewer area where it was left abandoned next to the road.
Judging on the prevalence of these patterns, the Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma saw it necessary to warn the community to be extra vigilant when driving and not to stop at any unsafe places.
“I urge members of the public to take extra precautionary measures and be vigilant especially when driving their vehicles to avoid stopping willy-nilly at awkward places. Drivers should take break intervals at places where it is safe to do so, such as fuel stations and busy places like at the shopping malls/complexes where it can be much safer to attend to phone calls and other issues as you might not know who may be following you. Criminals like to operate in secluded areas where it is easy for them to pounce on their prey, therefore motorists should not expose themselves to the claws of criminals but be vigilant at all times,” said General Zuma.
Anyone who may have information that may lead to the arrest of the villains, is urged to contact Colonel One Thobejane at 0823722195 for the Vosman cases.
For the hijacking case at Kabokweni, Captain Shaka Nkosi can be contacted on 071 200 1669. Members of the public can also call the Crime Stop number on 08600 10111 or by giving a tip-off on the MYSAPSAPP that can be downloaded to any smartphone.
Bethal: On Thursday 2020-06-25 at about 14h30, police at Bethal received a complaint regarding a state vehicle involved in an accident on the N17.
The overturned SAPS bakkie
The police reacted swiftly to the complaint and upon arrival on the accident scene, they found the SAPS bakkie overturned with detainees which were transported from Kriel Magistrates court to Bethal Correctional Centre next to Total garage.
According to the information available at police disposal, the driver of the police bakkie lost control of the vehicle while avoiding a head-on collision with another vehicle coming from a different direction.
All role players including Mpumalanga Provincial Traffic, Govan Mbeki Local Traffic, Govan Mbeki Fire and Rescue and Bethal SAPS Detective Unit were summoned to the scene.
During the accident, one detainee sustained serious head injuries and six sustained slight injuries. Two police officers also sustained slight injuries.
The Mpumalanga Emergency Service from Bethal attended the scene and rendered medical assistance to injured detainees and transported them to Bethal hospital.
The police in Mpumalanga are warning the public to avoid falling prey to various social media scams as there is an upsurge of criminality involving social media platforms.
During this period, a number of people experienced difficult economic challenges in their lives and this situation presented a window of opportunity for criminals to look for available measures with a view to scam unsuspecting individuals of their hard earned cash.
Criminals would take any available opportunity and use social media to their advantage to lure victims and swindle their cash.
The police have been warning people to be vigilant about these social media criminals who pose themselves as potential employers or salespersons selling under false pretences on social media.
This comes after victims of social media came forward to report incidents in which charlatans conned them.
Reports suggested that victims would be encouraged to deposit cash into these bogus employers or fake sales representatives accounts.
To mention a few examples, on 23 June 2020, a 60-year-old pensioner narrated on how he was lured into parting with his cash to the tune of about nineteen thousand and two hundred Rand (R19200-00) after following a man that he met on Facebook claiming to be from a certain poultry farm.
The suspect was using social media platforms to advertise a herd of cattle as well as a number of sheep.
The complainant developed a keen interest in purchasing six cows as well as two sheep from the man, unbeknownst to him that he was being lured into a trap.
The scammer falsely advised the victim to transfer an upfront deposit of nineteen thousand and two hundred Rand, whilst the remainder was to be settled on delivery of the stock.
The victim faithfully honoured the agreement and duly transferred the amount agreed upon in two separate transactions, one on 1 June 2020, whilst the second transaction was made on 3 June 2020.
The victim called the suspect to confirm receipt of the deposit, to which the suspect agreed.
The suspect further informed the victim that he was getting the stock ready for delivery on the following business day, which turned out to be false.
Numerous attempts by the victim to locate the suspect did not yield positive results and that is when he realised that he has been scammed.
After exhausting all his endeavours to hold the suspect accountable for his deed, the complainant resorted to opening a case with the police at Elukwatini SAPS.
In a separate incident, another victim responded to a promise of a job offer from a State Owned Entity which was advertised by a bogus representative, was tricked to deposit an amount of four thousand six hundred Rand (R 4600).
Apparently, the 28-year-old victim responded to the bogus job advertisement on the suspect’s Facebook page and paid the requested amount on 5 May 2020.
When the victim tried to get hold of the job advertiser in order to confirm receipt of the money deposited, the man requested the victim to deposit a further three thousand Rand (R3000-00) for administration purposes and that was when it dawned on the complainant.
The complainant tried to call the suspect on the following day, 6 May 2020, but his phone rang unanswered and the complainant decided to open a case of fraud on 23 June 2020, also at Elukwatini.
Police would like to warn members of the community to desist from paying money to dubious people who promise them lucrative favours in a form of employment or business deals because there are no jobs for sale.
Legitimate job opportunities do not require an upfront payment for administration purposes or any other means.
The police take this opportunity to categorically condemn the tendencies of these criminals as it is evil and often rob victims of their last cent.
Lieutenant General Zuma has weighed in the warning and advised the public to be very vigilant of various scams that aim at robbing them of their cash and property.
Lieutenant General Zuma
The General has further urged the community to refrain from making agreements through social media and pledge to make cash transactions into accounts of strangers.
“Criminals are taking an advantage of the vulnerability of our people and often use media platforms to ignite some kind of excitement that would be characterised by empty promises. Being excited about the good things that comes with technology, people should not forget of the agonising outcomes that they might experience when they decide to take risks with their cash. This can end up in sobbing stories for the victims so people should always be vigilant,” said General Zuma.
Wednesday, 24 June 2020: Eskom wishes to appeal to the public to continue reducing electricity consumption during the peak hours tonight as the generation system is currently constrained.
While some generation units were returned to service last night, breakdowns occurred at a further two generation units today.
Eskom’s teams are working hard to return to service the two units that tripped today at Medupi and Matimba power stations, adding to the breakdowns and taking off a unit to deal with emissions requirements at Kendal, Majuba and Lethabo yesterday.
While the system remains constrained, we hope to avoid load shedding, with the help of the people of South Africa.
Police in Mpumalanga appeal for an urgent assistance in locating the family of a 70 year old man known as Letholo Albert Ramafume. There is a matter that the police would like to discuss with the family relating to Ramafume.
According to the information available to the police, the elderly man came to Low’s Creek Esperado Farm in Mpumalanga around 2012 and he became known to Miss Phumzile Milazi as well as Miss Nomanesi Nkosi.
The two women diligently looked after the pensioner.
Ramafume did not reveal much to the two ladies about the exact area where he originates from but only shared that he is from Limpopo province.
The old man further indicated that he also stayed at Sternto Farm at Malelane before moving to Low’s Creek.
Ramafume has been staying in Low’s Creek ever since.
Anyone who can assist in locating his family or anyone who might know the whereabouts of Ramafume’s family can contact the Low’s Creek police on 013-710 0111.
Alternatively, Ms Phumzile Milazi can be contacted at 0715052169 or Ms Nomanesi Nkosi on 0769154917.
The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma has strongly warned the community to refrain from committing acts of mob justice.
The warning of General Zuma comes in the wake of an incident where a 33-year-old man was brutally killed at Mahushu Trust in Masoyi, apparently by three people accusing him of stealing.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, 23 June 2020 and three suspects have been arrested today in connection with the murder.
This mob justice was reported to the police on the same day whereupon their arrival at the scene, they found the victim severely assaulted.
The police then summoned medical personnel who on arrival, certified the victim dead as a result, the police opened a murder case hence the arrest of a 28-year-old woman as well as two men, both aged 29.
Preliminary investigation has currently revealed that the victim was suspected by the trio to have stolen properties from their house. They then allegedly assaulted him until he died.
Lieutenant General Zuma has condemned this incident and called on members of the public to report criminal activities to the lawful authorities rather than taking the law into their own hands.
Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma
“People who engage in mob justice should know that the law will definitely be after them. There is nobody who is above the law despite whatever grievances one might have, you cannot be law unto yourself. We encourage communities to join structures such as the Community Police Forums (CPF’s) and work together with their local Traditional Leadership with a clear mandate of addressing crime. We hope the arrest of the suspects will send a clear message to those who might engage in acts of mob justice that regardless of who they are, they will be locked up. Acts of mob justice are acts of criminally that’s all,” said General Zuma.
Rand Water is a proud partner of the Department of Basic Education’s national return to school programme and to ensure safe and clean water for those school communities in need.
Rand Water was appointed as the Implementing Agent, after an Implementation Protocol between ourselves and the Departments of Basic Education (DBE) and Water and Sanitation (DWS) was finalised on 13 May 2020.
The Implementation Protocol is per the Intergovernmental Relations Act, 2005 (Act No 13 of 2005).
We have noted with concern the misinformation quoted in media articles as well as on social media platforms exaggerating the supplier costs for water tanks used during the intervention.
It is important to note that all the service providers that were contracted as part of this intervention are accredited vendors registered on the National Treasury’s Central Supplier Database (CSD).
The CSD is a database of organisations, institutions and individuals who can provide goods and services to government.
It is the single source of key supplier information for organs of state since April 2016, and it provides consolidated, accurate, up-to-date, complete and verified supplier information to procuring organs of state.
All the costs for the successful implementation of the intervention fall well within the market price range for the equipment and installation costs utilised for the intervention.
The costs are as follow:
The cost for the supply of a 5000 litre tank ranged between R 4 500.00 and R 5 400.00.
The cost for the supply of a 10 000 litre tank ranged between R 9 000.00 and R 10 800.00.
The Implementation Protocol has a contractual value of R 600 million to be payable by the DBE to Rand Water.
To date the DBE has transferred an amount of R 200 million to Rand Water.
The Implementation Protocol is for Rand Water to supply and install water tanks and to provide water-cutting services to the respective schools during the declared national disaster period.
An important second phase of the intervention is the construction of sustainable water sources for the schools through borehole drilling and pumping, as well as the establishment of reticulation systems to the closest source of water wherever possible.
Gabriëlla Stemmet, ‘n Graad 8 – leerling van Hoërskool Secunda, het bewys dat sy ‘n gebore spreker is en het haar talente beslis nie onder ‘n maatemmer weg gesteek tydens die grendeltyd nie. Sy het aan die Con Spirito Kunstefees deelgeneem.
Gabriëlla Stemmet
Sy presteer soos volg:
Afrikaans Huistaal Redenaars: A+++
Engels Tweede Taal Redenaar A++
Afrikaans Lees A++
English Reading A++
Sy dring deur na die Nasionale Forte rondte in Afrikaans Redenaars en English Reading.
JP Nel het die meeste van sy krieketagtergrond in Gauteng behaal waar hy op skoolvlak klubkrieket gespeel in die Primier A liga gekolf en boul het. Hier is hy dan ook vir die Wes-Rand span gekies.
Op die Puk, tydens sy studentejare het hy in sy vrye tyd koshuiskrieket gespeel het en toe ook vir die NWU Pukke krieket gespeel.
Na Universiteit het hy in Gauteng skool gehou en sportorganisering en Krieketafrigting gedoen het.
Hy het by skole waar in 3 jaar geen krieket aangebied was nie, ‘n nuwe krieketliefde aangewakker en spanne begin.
JP Nel is Hoërskool Oosterland se nuwe krieketafrigter
Visie en missie:
“My visie as afrigter- en krieketorganiseerder is om elke krieketspeler nie net te verbeter op die veld nie maar ook van die veld af.
Respek en dissipline is waardevolle eienskappe wat ek in al my spelers wil inburger.
Oosterland staan as een van die beste krieket-skole in die distrik bekend – ons het goeie kwalitiet afrigters en ‘n krieketakademie waar daar opleiding gegee word.
Daar is ook nabetragting-sessies om elke kind te verbeter en kliniekure waarin persoonlike ontwikkeling kan geskied.
Krieket by Oosterland is nie net ‘n sport nie, maar vorm deel van ‘n positiewe inset totdat elke speler se sy potensiaal kan bereik.”
