Day: May 10, 2022

NELSPRUIT – The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has sent a stern warning to members of the police who involve themselves in criminal activities as drastic steps will be taken against them without any hesitation. The words of the General were uttered following the arrest of a police Warrant Officer on 07 May 2022 at Kabokweni on allegations of being in possession of suspected stolen roofing timber planks.

According to the report, members received information from the public about roofing timber planks that were stolen during an incident in which a truck, carrying roofing timber planks was hijacked on 06 May 2022 at Phola Park (in Kabokweni). At about 16:00 the details were followed by the astute members which led them to a certain house belonging to a police officer. The alleged building materials were then found and police believed that they were stolen during the said hijacking incident. Warrant Officer Elvis Oswald Chirwa, aged 49 was arrested and charged for possession of suspected stolen properties.

He appeared at the Kabokweni Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 09 May 2022 where the case was posponed to Friday, 13 May 2022 for a formal bail application whilst Chirwa was remanded in custody.

Meanwhile today, 10 May 2022 at about 09h30 am police at Carolina were patrolling in Silobela Township (in Carolina) and spotted a suspicious bakkie with two occupants. The vehicle was loaded with 20 Litre containers. The car was then stopped and a search was conducted whereby a discovery was made that the two were transporting 200 Litres of diesel. The driver as well as the passenger, aged 19 and 20 years respectively were arrested after it appeared that they reportedly did not have a receipt nor proper explanation of where they bought the diesel.

The two were charged for possession of presumed stolen goods and they are expected to appear in the Carolina Magistrate’s Court on 11 May 2022 facing the said charges.

 

 

 

Source: South African Police Service

The City of Cape Town’s Portfolio Committee Chairperson for Human Settlements, Councillor Albert Anda Ntsodo, and the Portfolio Committee members conducted an oversight visit to three communities on Friday, 6 May 2022, to check on work that is being carried out at City projects. The committee followed up on project progress and looked at areas where improvements and streamlining could be made.

Councillor Albert Anda Ntsodo and the Portfolio Committee members conducted oversight visits to the Gugulethu Infill project and visited the Monwood and Ramaphosa informal settlements.

‘The purpose of our visits was to check on the various projects in these communities and to see where improvements to our service delivery could be made. The City allocated R2,8 billion for the City’s Human Settlements Directorate over three years, according to the draft Budget 2022/23. It will include budget for work on informal settlements upgrades and the enhancement of basic services, public housing maintenance, Breaking New Ground housing and hostel transformation projects across the metro.

‘Our oversight visits intend to make sure that the City delivers service to our residents. The Human Settlements Directorate has a number of projects in areas across the metro, which are under way and we look forward to seeing that these projects are running smoothly. We also will assist and provide guidance where it is required,’ said Councillor Ntsodo.

 

 

 

Source: City Of Cape Town

WESTERN CAPE – Members attached to Operation Lockdown II posted at Khayelitsha arrested a 23-year-old suspect from Site B, Khayelitsha at around 18:30 on 09 May 2022 at Alliam Drive for possession of a presumed stolen motor vehicle, possession of an imitation firearm (which was used to commit a crime), robbery with a firearm and attempted kidnapping

According to reports the members were busy with stop and searches when they received information from a passer-by driver informing them about a hijacking in progress. They proceeded to the mentioned location and found the suspect busy trying to start the hijacked vehicle while in possession of a firearm on his waist. At the back of the canopy, members found a foreign national and his assistant locked up with crates of bread. On further investigations it was found that the vehicle was hijacked at Khayelitsha earlier this month. The suspect will appear in court soon on the mentioned charges.

In an unrelated matter, on Monday 9 May 2022 at about 21:00, six males aged between 21 and 45 were arrested for the possession of an unlicensed firearm, ammunition and drugs in Elsies River.

The males were travelling in a silver motor vehicle when they were arrested by Elsies River SAPS Crime Prevention Unit. The members deployed in the Elsies River area to combat gang violence and prevent crime were busy with visible patrols when they noticed the silver motor vehicle driving through a red traffic light in Fransie van Zyl Avenue. They pulled the vehicle over and on conducting a search and found a firearm and ammunition in the vehicle. The serial number of the firearm has been removed. Three units of tik including R2001 cash was in the possession of the suspects.

On further investigation, it was found that the same vehicle was used in the commission of an attempted murder within the Kensington area and the suspects are possibly wanted for attempted murder charges.

The six males will be appearing in court once they have been charged.

 

 

Source: South African Police Service

FREE STATE – The Family, Child Protection and Sexual offences Unit together with Tseseng police arrested a 60-year-old suspect who allegedly raped an 11-year-old girl at Tseseng Village.

It is alleged that on Thursday, 5 May 2022 at about 16:45, the grandmother gave her granddaughter money to go buy her something at local shop which is not far away from their home. On her way, the gilr came across the suspect who is known to her. He allegedly grabbed and took her to the dilapidated building where he raped her. A case of rape is being investigated.

The accused appeared briefly before the Tseseng Magistrate court on a charge of rape. He was remanded in custody for legal aid and formal bail application.

 

 

 

Source: South African Police Service

POTCHEFSTROOM – As part of interventions following Ministerial Crime Prevention Imbizo held in Mahikeng last month, stabilisation operations in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District are yielding positive results. This is after a total of 153 arrests were effected since Monday, 11 April until Tuesday, 4 May 2022, by the intervention teams members comprising of various units deployed in the district.

The arrested suspects include 10 for dealing in drugs, 12 for possession of suspected stolen property, one for murder, two for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, eight for driving under the influence of alcohol, 24 for selling liquor without a licence and many others. In addition, 15 suspected undocumented persons were taken in for processing by Immigration Officials.

In one of the cases in Lomanyaneng, the stabilisation team members and local police reacted to a tip-off on Sunday, 1 May 2022, about a man who was allegedly in possession of explosive devices. Consequently, the man, aged 41, was stopped for a search after being spotted along the road at Dithakong village. During the search, he was found in possession of explosives contained in a yellow plastic. He was arrested for illegal possession of explosives after failing to account for the possession.

In another case on Tuesday, 4 May 2022, in Makhubung Village outside Mahikeng, police were on duty when they followed up on illegal drug dealing activity and eventually arrested of a 47-year-old male for dealing in drugs. That was after he was found in possession 3,6 kilogram of dagga.

During the operations, the police confiscated various items such as drugs, liquor, two firearms, ammunition, counterfeit goods, copper cables and a variety of electrical appliances.

The Provincial Commissioner of North West, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena expressed gratitude to the members for their efforts in the fight against crime in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District. He reiterated that the police will continue to work hard to rid communities of drugs and ensure that criminals are arrested.

 

 

 

Source: South African Police Service

The Gauteng Online Admissions for Grade 1 and 8 for the 2023 academic year will officially commence on 22 July 2022 and will close on 19 August 2022.

In a statement on Monday, the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) said that it has reviewed the online system, as well as the previous two-phased approach.

Following an analysis of various online parent surveys and stakeholder consultations, the system has now been enhanced to follow a single application process, allowing all applicants to apply at the same time during the application period.

The GDE said that it believes this overall simplified applications process will satisfy everyone.

“The application period will start on 22 July 2022 at 08:00 AM for Grade 1 and Grade 8 applications, and it will close on 19 August 2022 at 00:00 AM. To apply, visit: www.gdeadmissions.gov.za. Parents and guardians will receive SMS notifications of placement offers to either accept or decline from 3 – 31 October 2022,” the GDE said.

Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi, said they are hopeful that these implemented enhancements will be helpful to all applicants.

He urged parents and guardians who will be seeking space for their children at Gauteng schools for Grade 1 or 8 in 2023, to make sure they diarise the announced dates as they are very important.

“Officials incorporated inputs from our stakeholders on how to improve the system. Indeed, we are hopeful that these implemented enhancements will be helpful to all applicants. Accordingly, we must reiterate that capacity remains our challenge in Gauteng, and a factor that applicants must always bear in mind when applying,” Lesufi said.

The department said that Grade R learners will not automatically be accepted to Grade 1 without application, even if they apply to the schools where they are currently enrolled in.

“This means that all learners that are 5 years old turning 6 years old by 30 June 2023 and are currently enrolled in Grade R in a school or ECD centre, as well as learners that are not in any type of school, must apply for admission at a minimum of three and a maximum of five schools,” the department said.

Important documents to submit

Parents and guardians are urged to upload or submit certified copies of the following documents within 7 days of applying:

• Parent and Child ID or Passport
  · Refugee Permit
  · Asylum Seeker Permit
  · Permanent Residence Permit
  · Study Permit
  · South African Birth Certificate
  · Proof of Home Address
  · Proof of Work Address
  · Latest School Report and Clinic Card/Immunisation Report (Grade 1 only)

Parents and guardians will be given up until 26 August 2022 (7 days after application period ends) to upload or submit their documents.

However, the GDE said that documents that are uploaded or submitted after the application period closing date will be considered as incomplete applications and will only receive placement at available schools between 1 – 15 December 2022.

To eliminate the risk of overlooking an applicant with uploaded documents by a school, during and up to 7 days after the end of the application period, the department said that schools will receive an auto alert each time new documents are uploaded. The system will highlight all uploaded documents for verification.

“In order to hold schools accountable for verification of all received documents, the system will prompt schools to answer the question whether an applicant submitted documents or not. If verified, the system will prompt the school to verify and update document status. If not verified, the system will create an alert on the parent’s profile and an SMS will be sent to parent to submit or upload documents,” the department said.

As part of the system enhancement process, applicants will be afforded the opportunity to make informed choices regarding languages offered when applying to a school.

Language of Learning and Teaching, Home Languages, and additional languages offered by each school will be visible on the system to applicants during the application period.

“All applicants will be granted an opportunity to apply to a school of their choice, according to the selected application option. This is an improvement as previous complaints we received stated that schools were not available for certain application options and, as such, all schools will remain open for applications for all during the application period,” GDE said.

For all applicants to submit completed applications, electronic messages will be sent via SMS reminding parents and guardians to complete their application, and the same notifications will be created on the parent’s profile on the system.

The department said that SMS notifications informing applicants whether their application was successful or unsuccessful will be sent from 3 – 31 October 2022.

Therefore, parents are urged to note that it is highly important that applicants provide ONE reliable and working cellphone number when applying in order to receive notifications and complete their application.

Schools of Specialisation

Schools of Specialisation will admit learners based on an aptitude or talent from 20 May – 20 June 2022, said the department.

Admission tests, written assessments, trials and auditions will also be conducted by Schools of Specialisation for applicants from 20 May – 26 August 2022.

“The outcome of these tests and trials will be communicated to applicants from 20 June 2022 – 9 September 2022. Parents who have applied to Schools of Specialisation are urged to accompany their children to these tests and trials to complete the process,” the department said.

Parents and guardians applying to boarding schools in Gauteng are encouraged to apply directly at identified schools. Applications to boarding schools will take place from 1 June 2022 – 19 August 2022.

Admission Regulations

The department said that placement of applicants with documents uploaded / delivered within the regulated period will be prioritized.

It must be noted that placement will be conducted as per the following admission regulations:

• Home address within feeder zone
  · Siblings
  · Work address
  · Within 30 km Radius
  · Beyond 30km Radius

Decentralised Walk-In Centres

To ensure access for applicants who are unable to apply from the comfort of their homes and or offices, the department has identified Decentralised Walk-In Centres in different areas where applicants will be safely assisted.

The department said that some District Offices and the Head Office will serve as walk-in centres.

This information will be made available to the public via schools, districts, the GDE Website and social media platforms.

“Parents and guardians who will be experiencing challenges during the application period are encouraged to visit our District Offices and Decentralised Walk-In Centres or call the GDE’s Contact Centre 0800 000 789.”

 

 

 

Source: South African Government News Agency