Just a Victim (of Crime)

A man was shot dead on a Golden Arrow bus after refusing to surrender his wedding ring to robbers.

The 41 year old victim was shot dead on his way home from work on a bus from Claremont to Mitchells Plain.

Three men started robbing passengers, and when they came to Pearson he gave them two of his rings but refused to hand over his wedding band.The men shot him in the arm but he still refused. Then they said: “We are not joking,” and shot him in chest.

Police said one of the passengers was robbed of R23 000 in cash and cheques before the robbers got off the bus and fled the scene in a white BMW with a blue bonnet. It is believed one of the robbers boarded the bus at a Claremont bus stop and the other two during the journey to Mitchells Plain.Golden Arrow said this was “an isolated incident”.

There had been a trend towards attacks and robberies on buses, so the assumption of “safety in numbers” does not apply to South Africa”s public bus network.

Robbers often held drivers up at gunpoint, telling them to slow down while they robbed passengers of money, jewellery and cellphones. Sometimes robbers targeted drivers for the money.

Racist attack on white motorist by black traffic officer – Video

The Beeld newspaper reports of two young white men who stopped to fill up at a garage and was harassed by a black traffic cop. The cop, Enoch Sifuanda beat and wrestled the young man to the ground and choked him unconscious with the filling line of one of the pumps. When the white man, Ruan De Beer gained consciousness he was repeatedly kicked in the head by the cop and in the groin by the black petrol attendant. It was all captured on CCTV. Click on the link and scroll down to where it says: “Kyk Video”.

The other white guy in the video who stands by doing nothing, is Ruan’s so called friend, Stefan du Preez. Look at all the blacks who surrounded them and who do nothing to stop this racist attack.

The police drove by and rescued the young man, but then proceeded to lock up the two WHITE victims, for resisting arrest!!! Yes people, this is the reality of South Africa. Innocent whites get assaulted by blacks and then the whites gets arrested. This victimization of whites is common and occurs on a daily basis on various degrees.

Amazing how the media does not point out this blatant racist attack. This cop was previously in the news for the same thing. In June 2007 he assaulted a white woman, Lana Braun, in front of her family. He was also previously charged for assaulting a family member.

http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2254597,00.html

The main reason people move into supposedly secure residential estates or complexes is to escape crime. But the latest crime statistics indicate that house robberies with aggravated circumstances are on the increase behind these walled-off, guarded and supposedly secure residential areas.

And experts say that part of the problem might be that residents are lulled into a false sense of security and forget basic safety principles.

Danie Bantjes, chief operating officer of Top Security, says his company has come across houses inside estates and complexes where the front doors, gates or garage doors are left wide open throughout the night.

Staff have also had instances where people have gone out for the evening - and even on holiday - leaving doors open or not activating their alarm systems.

‘It has taken time for me to talk about it’

When confronted, their response is normally “But we’re living in a secure estate and the guards and neighbours will look after our property. We’re safe and we’re paying for this.”

Victims of this chilling new trend are Lynne Katz and her family from Atholl, north-east of Joburg, who survived a terrifying two-hour ordeal after robbers broke into their home inside a security complex. Her husband Jay was stabbed 15 times and they threatened to kill her baby Ethan, aged 15 months.

The robbers had entered their home through an open windows after managing to get over the complex’s electric fence.

Although the attack took place late last year, Katz is still undergoing treatment to help her deal with the trauma.

“It has taken time for me to talk about it, but I feel strongly that victims of crime must speak out so that others can know what’s happening,” Katz explains.

‘Statistics show that this type of crime still happens regularly’

“We’re very lucky to be alive; they could have raped me, and Jay could have died. This isn’t a good reflection on our country,” said Katz, adding: “But I won’t be driven out of my home. I still believe South Africa has so much potential.”

The family’s ordeal began just before midnight when Katz, who had just fallen asleep, woke up and saw five men in her bedroom.

“They had our kitchen knives in their hands, I knew it was going to be a long night.”

She says one man jumped on top of her and another jumped on top of her husband, stabbing him several times, while three of the men tied them both up with computer cables.

“They knew exactly what they were doing because they went directly to our walk-in closet where we keep most of our valuables,” said Katz.

“They ransacked the place and took clothes, jewellery and Jay’s gun. Then they wanted the key for the safe. We told them that it was in the closet. I offered to help look for it - but we couldn’t find it.”

The men didn’t believe her and threatened to kill her baby - but they couldn’t get inside the infant’s room as the night nurse had barricaded the door by pushing a couch against it.

Then the robbers demanded an iron because they wanted to torture Katz and her husband.

“They terrorised us for two hours. They had a smoke in our room and then they dragged me downstairs because they wanted alcohol. I was trying to be as helpful as I could to draw attention away from my bleeding husband and our baby and night nurse.”

She managed to distract them by pouring them drinks and offering more valuables.

“I just wanted them out of the house. I was prepared to do anything, give them anything they wanted. They asked for our car keys, which I gave them and even explained how the remotes worked - that number one is for the garage door and number two is for the entrance gate.”

But when they couldn’t start Jay’s BMW, they asked Lynne to do it for them.

“I had only started that car once before. I wasn’t sure if I could do it again. But thank God it started. I just wanted them to leave.”

At that stage the night nurse went onto the balcony of the baby’s room and screamed as loudly as she could, which alerted the neighbours and scared off the robbers.

Within minutes of being summoned, the couple’s security company and the police arrived. Two of the robbers were caught hiding under some bushes just metres from the complex.

It was later established that the attackers were friends of the son of their former domestic worker, who had died. He was also arrested for masterminding the robbery.

Bantjes warns residents of walled estates and security complexes not to believe they are immune from driveway robberies.

“Sadly, our statistics show that this type of crime still happens regularly within security estates and even complexes. People in security estates seem to be less vigilant when approaching their homes than those on the outside. There’s also often no control over the movement of strangers inside estates,” he said.

Another modus operandi is for criminals to rent properties within secure complexes and then take their time to observe properties before striking.

“Criminals have been discovered moving into quite a few of the more affluent estates by either renting units or even buying properties. For obvious reasons this poses a serious threat to the security of the community inside the estate.”

eBlockwatch founder Andre Snyman said most robberies at complexes are reported by people who live north of Joburg.

“What we’ve found is that the security guards placed at the gates of these complexes aren’t deterrents for robbers. They know that the guard isn’t going to risk his own life,” he said.

Gauteng police spokesperson Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo said that although police had not seen a recent increase in house robberies at complexes, residents should be vigilant.

“People must not be complacent about safety issues. They must also be extra careful about who they employ to clean their houses and do their gardening. We encourage residents to call the police immediately if they notice suspicious people hanging around their complexes.”

Tips to safeguard your home:

According to crime statistics, house robberies have increased by 7 percent. Here are some tips to safeguard your home and your family:

Be familiar with the response company who manages the security for your complex.

Ensure you have the number of your security provider programmed into the speed dial on your cellphone.

Advise them if you’re expecting visitors but instruct them never to allow anyone into your premises without your permission.

If you feel you’re being followed, drive to the nearest police station or service station where there are other people around.

Make sure the security personnel at the gate of the complex are aware if your house alarm is triggered.

Remember that cheap security is no security. Don’t regard security as a cost - a good security approach can reduce your insurance premiums.

In addition, take a broad view of security - the more you integrate your approach, the more you save and the better your security will be.

Don’t rely on an alarm sounder only. An alarm without a response is just a noise - ensure that your alarm is monitored.

Make sure your security provider has updated records of your correct contact details and those of your key holders.

Use your burglar alarm to its full potential. Your burglar alarm should be properly managed and checked on a regular basis to ensure it is fully operational.

Create a “safe area” in your home.

Install adequate lighting.

Install outside lights that can be remotely controlled from inside the house and the alarm system. Consider installing lighting activated by a motion detector.

Programme your phone with the number of the complex’s gatehouse security before going to bed. Dial the number and hang up before the call is answered. This will give you a time advantage, as all you then need to do is press the redial button.

Increase your view - high walls and hedges obscure the view of the property.

Don’t assume it always happens to someone else. Always be prepared.

Source: Chubb Security

This article was originally published on page 7 of The Star on January 19, 2008

SOMETHING JUST SNAPPED

  No need to send young Johan Nel off to Sterkies for observation. The motive is as clear as daylight.

Johannesburg - “Mom, something snapped inside me,” were the words of a young man to his mother before he was arrested for shooting and killing three people in a squatter camp in the North West province.

Corrie Nel, mother of Johan Nel, 18, said her son had “snapped”.

“If you knew him, you would know that he did not act rationally.”

She said he had been attacked in 2003 when he was 14, “by a black man with a sickle”, after which he had shot at the man; in another incident seven years ago he had been traumatised by an attack on his brother on their farm; last Sunday he had heard about an incident in which burglars had apparently pumped gas into the room where a friend’s wife and her three-week-old baby were; and on Monday morning he’d heard of another attack on a farm in their area.

‘Seriously injured’

She said she hadn’t had a chance to properly talk to her son after the shooting at the squatter camp, but Johan had told her: “Mom, something snapped inside me.”

Nel was on Tuesday arrested for shooting and killing three residents of the Skielik squatter camp about 3km from their house on the farm Tweefontein.

He will appear in the Swartruggens court on Thursday on charges of murder and attempted murder.

Seven people were injured in the incident, three of them seriously.

Among the dead, was a baby girl of three months and a 10-year-old boy. They were shot with a .303 rifle.

Superintendent Louis Jacobs said Nel had been found guilty in 2003 of the negligent firing of a firearm after an incident with a man cutting the lawn.

Sentencing would have been postponed to this year if Nel was found guilty of another offence.

According to his mother, Johan at the time “only fired shots to defend himself”.

She blamed herself for not arranging counselling at the time for Johan because he had been “already hysterical” after this incident as well as when his brother had been attacked in 2001 in their farmhouse.

Seven years ago, seven armed men attacked Johan’s older brother Heinrich on a Sunday morning at their home.

The rest of the family was at church.

Heinrich fought back and managed to get a hold of his father’s revolver and chase them away.

‘No racism here’

The robbers told Heinrich they would wait for the whole family and kill everyone.

Afterwards, their plan was to attack another farmer in the area, Heinrich had told Beeld at the time.

“All of us were upset about this,” said Heinrich on Wednesday.

According to his mother, Johan had become “physically ill” after hearing of the gas incident at his friend’s house.

“Fortunately, they survived (the gas attack).”

She said she thought Johan had stomach flu afterwards, but now realised it was not that at all.

A resident of Swartruggens said some residents in town felt that “a thing was being made over the fact that we are a racist community, but there is no racism here. On the contrary, the farmers have given police their full co-operation in helping to find the suspect”.

Young Boy Stabbed Nine Times, yet no headlines

Please Note: No screaming headlines, no mayor who is outraged, no special forces out hunting high and low for the attackers, no protesters screaming and shouting…

Klerksdorp - A 15-year-old boy from Lichtenburg is recovering in Wilmed Park Private Hospital after three attackers overpowered him and stabbed him nine times while trying to steal his bicycle and cellphone.

Theo Nel, a Grade 9 pupil at Lichtenburg High School, was on his way to a shop to buy a cellphone top-up voucher when the three men overpowered him on Thursday afternoon.

They pulled him off the bicycle and started stabbing him. He was stabbed in the ribs, arms, back and sides. He prevented them from stabbing him in the neck.

Police spokesperson , confirmed the incident

When South Africa’s cops are not preoccupied with imprisoning white motorists for minor traffic violations or extorting bribe money they are busy drinking away. It is comforting to know that the police are too drunk to help hijack victims.]

Durban - Two police officers at the Thornville police station have been accused of dereliction of duty after they were found drunk and asleep on the job when a hijack victim came looking for assistance one Saturday evening.

Sunshine Bakery bread van driver Vincent Ngcobo’s woes started at about 14:00 as he and his assistant, Sbongile Memela, finished delivering bread in Edendale.

Four armed men on a narrow road in the Mpumuza area surprised the pair.

The gang grabbed Memela at gunpoint and forced him into a car before two of them drove the van off with Ngcobo still inside.

“It happened so quickly that I was not even aware where they were taking me, but I was dropped at Henley Dam. While they drove with me I thought: ‘This is it and I’m going to die’,” said Memela, adding that he was also worried about Ngcobo’s safety.

Policemen should have helped

Sunshine Bakeries sales manager Lucky Naicker told The Witness that Ngcobo was dumped somewhere near Baynesfield. Naicker said Ngcobo walked to the Thornville police station, where he tried to open a case.

“He was there for two hours and no one assisted him and he said that the two policemen at the station were drunk. This allegation was repeated by the driver who went to pick him up,” said Naicker.

Later when Naicker phoned the police station he spoke to an Inspector Khumalo, who he said sounded drunk.

Naicker said Ngcobo eventually managed to borrow a phone and call the bakery and a driver was dispatched to pick him up. Naicker said Ngcobo was very traumatised.

“What hurt him most was that the policemen who were there to help him did nothing,” he said.

A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said Ngcobo could not have opened the case with Thornville police since the incident did not take place under their area of jurisdiction.

Naicker said he phoned 10111 and a spoke to a Captain Sithole who said she would phone the station commander of Thornville, a Captain Naude, who was at a function.

“She promised that she would go and see what was going on at the station.” Naicker said 10111 also said they would send a vehicle to look for the bread van.

“The call was made at about 20:30 on Saturday, when no van arrived by 23:00, Ngcobo and the driver who had come to fetch him went home,” said Naicker.

Naicker said the bakery only managed to lay a charge on Sunday afternoon at the Plessislaer police station.

“By then the van had long gone with its cargo of bread valued at about R10 000. Police have subsequently told me that Thornville should have opened a docket.”

“I’m very upset at this level of inefficiency and appalled by the allegation of drunkenness.”

“But I’m even more upset that my driver was visibly traumatised and no attempt was made to help him. The driver was very shaken that policeman made no attempt to help him,” he said.

The van was found abandoned on Monday Baynesfield. About R9 000 in cash had been stolen, but nothing else, Naicker said.

Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Henry Budhram said police have taken note of the allegations and investigations are under way.

Truck hijacking decreased in 2007 in the Midlands area, according to police statistics.

Suffer the children: The Savagery of the Africa

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

Three people have been arrested after a seven-year-old KwaZulu-Natal boy was beheaded for R20 000 in what is believed to be a muti transaction, KwaDabeka police said Monday.

Police Captain Bongani Khomo said the incident has left police officers and the Clermont community in shock.

“We have established that suspect one and two were hired by a third man to kill the boy for R20 000,” he said.

“The first two suspects were living at a deserted home in Clermont and on Saturday police found the head in their possession at the home — which is situated next to St John’s church,” said Khomo.

He said the home, north west of Durban, was previously owned by former Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mhlahlo Mlotshwa.

He has since died and two of the suspects had been occupying a room in the home, which was thought to be deserted, said Khomo.

The boy — whose identity could not yet be released by police — went missing on 1 November.

His body was found a day later at a location in Clermont. The details of the discovery was not released to the media at the time.

His head was missing and could not be found at the scene.

Police Superintendent Muzi Mngomezulu said police were acting on information when they arrested the three.

Khomo said after the boy was killed, the man who hired the killers did not pay the money.

“We believe the child’s head was intended to be used for muti,” said Khomo.

The men are expected to appear in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of murder and for contravening the Human Tissues Act.

One also faces an additional charge of withholding information, police said.****** Images shown below are from an unrelated muti killing caseWarning: do not scroll down if you are under 18 or sensitive to extremely graphic images

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW / NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED

An anonymous White paramedic or doctor sent out the email below (translated from the original Afrikaans)

“I see these attacks occurring on a weekly basis now - suburban houses, smallholdings and farms, and I see the victims in both private & provincial hospitals. The frequency of attacks is sharply increasing and the brutality getting worse and worse.

Criminals are targeting any person and any home, even for small items like a cell phone. The last few weeks: three murders, nine violent attacks (three victims seriously injured, another three critically injured, two stable and one fighting for his life). The attacks were perpetrated by different groups of criminals.

The photographs of the attack shown below is one of six occurrences in the past week and of the rest of the attacks the public wasn’t informed about. Not even the community in which it happened knows about it. Neither the police or any other institution are informing you of these crimes - its not even reported in the news anymore. If it’s not your family or friends, you won’t know about it.

Please be careful - become more aware and prepared - attend lectures and classes on how to avoid or deal with a criminal attack. One can stop these attacks from happening with minimal knowledge, caution and preparation.

See the attached photographs - this is what barbaric criminals do to elderly people. This woman is 77 years old and lives alone. (Location withheld due to investigation). At some point during the day, the old woman must have left her house to go outside, whereupon the attackers sneaked into the house and ambushed her when she came back in. The motive is unknown but suspected to be robbery. All they took were three bottles of shampoo, a cellphone and the bread knife with which they savagely attacked her.

The attack happened this past Friday night. She is seriously injured but stable. The attacker wanted to cut off her fingers with a bread knife, right arm lost much arterial blood for about six hours, necrosis has started setting in due to blood loss, prognosis for retaining her arm is good. It is not known whether she was raped but this is highly likely.”

Ends

 In recent times South Africans have been shocked and horrified at being faced with a plague of rape against their women, with child and infantile rape among the non white communities an epidemic that shows no signs of letting up.
A woman is raped in South Africa every 17 seconds in a country with the highest incidence of reported rape in the world, and this does not include the number of child rape victims!
With this kind of scourge one would think a government would take a hard-line stance against rape  And besides, it comes easy to our savages, with rape long being the national sport  in South Africa…didn’t you know that? Well now you do..!
Violence against women, especially rape, has added its own brand of shame to recent wars. From conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina to Peru to Rwanda, girls and women have been singled out for rape, imprisonment, torture and execution. Rape, identified by psychologists as the most intrusive of traumatic events, is often used as a weapon of war in ‘ethnic cleansing’. Sexual violation of women erodes the fabric of a community in a way that few weapons can. Rape’s damage can be devastating because of the strong communal reaction to the violation and pain stamped on entire families. The harm inflicted in such cases on a woman by a rapist is an attack on her family and culture, as in many societies women are viewed as repositories of a community’s cultural and spiritual values. The disintegration of families in times of war leaves women and girls especially vulnerable to violence. Nearly 80 per cent of the 53 million people uprooted by wars today are women and children. When fathers, husbands, brothers and sons are drawn away to fight, they leave women, the very young and the elderly to fend for themselves. So is it not right that rape should be considered a war crime?

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has voiced serious concerns about South Africa’s alleged refusal to support a UN General Assembly resolution condemning rape used as a weapon of war, particularly in view of the fact that one of the most important decisions taken at the UN Women’s Conference in 1995 in Beijing was that rape in a conflict or war situation should be treated as a war crime. DA spokesperson Sheila Camerer says: ‘I was part of the 25-woman government delegation led by our present Foreign Minister Nkosazana ‘Fatgat’ Dlamini Zuma and Public Service minister Geraldine ‘Lardarse’ Fraser-Moleketi, and we were at the forefront of efforts to get this point written into the Conference Declaration. The Beijing Declaration establishing rape in conflict situations as a war crime was regarded as a great step forward in gender terms and by women’s groups around the world, and it would indeed be a sad day if S.A. should be party to any move to diminish that achievement.

It is all the more surprising then that South Africa’s UN Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo is insisting instead on wording that recommends a general condemnation of all forms of rape. This is well and good, but perhaps he is unaware of our own Foreign Minister’s role.

South Africa’s objection to the resolution has dismayed a number of international observers, including the UN representative of Human Rights Watch and the US assistant Secretary of State for international organisation affairs. South Africa’s performance at the UN to date has been disappointing to many people who expect South Africa to take a firm stand for human rights and dignity. Our UN ambassador said that condemning rape related to war was the business of the Security Council, and not the General Assembly. Usually, the opposite reason is given to justify why South Africa failed to take a principled stand on human rights issues. Given South Africa’s own dismal track record with sexual crimes and violence against women and children, opposition to a well-intentioned draft resolution aimed at improving the safety of women affected by war is extremely disappointing’.

Well at least this mini-bus driver had some form of training - probably on his stolen play station powered by the jump start cables hanging down from the overhead pylons crossing through his neighborhood.

I can’t see the difference can you?

South African thieves torture cattle- cut tendons Mau Mau style. Article from the archives of www.African.Org. The purpose of this was to immobilize the cow so that thieves could come back later to kill it. The cutting of tendons is a cruelty which was first practiced during the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya, under British colonial rule. They did this deliberately to cattle owned by white farmers.

Below is such a story posted in Crime Expo. This cow was discovered near the side of the road between Randfontein and Carlenonville. She was hidden under the trees between bushes. This particular cow was a pedigree Friesland cow worth about R8000.00. Sadly apparently four cows had been stolen, Achilles Tendons been cut the previous night for butchering only the next day.

Source: Crime Expo at http:www.crimeexposouthafrica.org/node/2208