Day: January 19, 2023

FREE STATE – Two suspects between the ages of 43 and 44 are expected to appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court today, 19 January 2023 for possession and selling of elephant tusks.

This comes after the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Free State received information about the two suspects who wanted to sell the elephant tusks in Bloemfontein. The Hawks’ set up a trap for the suspects on Wednesday, 18 January 2023 and arranged to buy the elephant tusks from the suspects. The suspects agreed to meet the police and during the meet, the suspects showed the police two elephant tusks also demanded R60 000.

The suspects were immediately arrested by members of the Hawks’ together with Economic Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA) and Local Criminal Record Centre (LCRC) all based in Free State.

Source: South African Police Service

With the start of the academic year, the City is scaling back operations at community swimming pools, as has become customary following the completion of the peak festive season period. The public is however reminded that operations continue to be affected by ongoing load-shedding, and to please consult their schedules before visiting these recreational facilities.

The change in operating hours will be implemented at 16 community swimming pools that are currently operational, namely Bellville, Bellville South, Bonteheuwel, Brown’s Farm, Delft, Goodwood, Hanover Park, Kensington, Khayelitsha, Lentegeur, Muizenberg, Parow North, Ruyterwacht, Trafalgar, Wesfleur (Atlantis) and Wynberg.

These swimming pools were open daily during the peak festive season period, but operating hours will be limited to Thursday and Fridays, after school from 14:00 until 17:00, as well as Saturdays and Sundays, from 10:00 until 17:00.

The indoor swimming pools in Retreat, Blue Downs and Strand will continue to operate daily, from 10:00 until 17:00, while Sea Point and Long Street are open daily from 07:00 until 19:00.

The public is reminded that facilities management may have to deviate from planned opening times, subject to the stage of load-shedding affecting their area.

This is because swimming pool plant rooms rely on electricity to circulate water and distribute chemicals to maintain water quality standards.

‘Load-shedding has very real implications for our swimming pool operations, most notably the ability to maintain water quality. The City cannot risk public health and that is why our facilities management may decide to close during outages, if their assessments indicate that the water quality has been compromised. I ask that our patrons please cooperate with staff in the event that a facility has to close due to load-shedding,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Patricia Van der Ross.

Status of closed swimming pools

Eight swimming pools are temporarily closed due to structural, mechanical and electrical faults. Work continues at Athlone, Langa, Manenberg, Mnandi, Westridge, Parow Valley, Ravensmead and Newlands. Once repairs are completed, opening dates and times will be communicated to the public.

It is anticipated that Newlands will reopen on Friday, 27 January 2023. The facility will be open like the rest of the community swimming pools, from Thursday to Sunday.

Extensive testing has been carried out on the chlorination system to ensure that set water quality standards are achieved, and maintained.

At the Manenberg swimming pool, the City is internally assessing the condition of underground circulation pipes to determine why cast iron particles are ending up in the swimming pool.

Once the root cause is identified, the necessary remedial action can be determined.

The duration and type of repairs needed can only be determined based on the outcome of the internal assessments.

An in-depth assessment for infrastructural repairs of the entire facility will also be undertaken, as part of the swimming pools repairs and maintenance programme; which is dependent on the relevant tender becoming active in the coming months.

As communicated before, the following pools are not opening this season at all, due to major repairs needed: Eastridge, Elsies River, Emthonjeni, Morningstar, Observatory and Vulindlela.

‘The City is committed to providing quality recreational facilities in our communities. We understand the frustration in some communities where swimming pools have not been able to open due to planned maintenance and repairs, or unexpected breakdowns, but our Recreation and Parks Department is working to address these challenges. I renew my call to communities for their cooperation and understanding, as the City has a duty to ensure that our facilities are safe for public use,’ added Councillor Van der Ross.

Source: City Of Cape Town

NORTH WEST – The 57-year-old Maria Magdelina Trevorou will spend the next 10 years behind prison walls. This came after she was found guilty and convicted by the Klerksdorp Regional Court on Monday, 16 January 2023.

Over the period between 2006 to 2009, Trevorou operated an unregistered investment scheme and recruited several people to invest money with her company. Multiple complainants deposited an all-inclusive to the estimated value of R3.2 Million into her bank account hoping for profit. None of them received their interest nor their invested capital as promised.

The matter was reported to the Klerksdorp based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team and she was later served with summons (J175) to appear in court. The matter has been at Regional court since 20 January 2020.

The Hawks investigation team pulled out all stops and their meticulous investigative skills proved the case beyond any reasonable doubt and managed to send off the convict to jail. Maria Magdalina Trevorou pleaded guilty on 20 charges fraud and contravention of bank act preferred against her and was sentenced to ten (10) years imprisonment, wholly suspected for five (5) years with conditions that the accused is not found guilty of similar offences.

Source: South African Police Service

Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) calls on members of the media wishing to cover the official memorial service of the late Dr Frene Ginwala to apply for accreditation.

Dr Ginwala, passed away at her home in Cape Town on Thursday night, 12 January 2023, at the age of 90.

The official memorial service will take place on Tuesday, 24 January 2023 at the Johannesburg City Hall, Gauteng province.

Members of the media are invited to apply for accreditation by completing the attached registration form in full and submit to Takalani Mukwevho at takalanim@gcis.gov.za(link sends e-mail) by no later than Friday, 20 January 2023 at 14h00.

Source: Government of South Africa

DURBAN – Felix Tepi Atto, a 33-year-old Cameroonian national was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment by Durban Regional Court after he was found guilty of theft amounting to R738 500 which he stole from a pensioner between the years 2018 and 2020.

Three years of his sentence were suspended on condition that he is not found of the similar offence during the period of his sentence. The convicted thief presented himself as a traditional healer to the victim and made him believe that he would multiply his pension money to the tune of five million rand. The victim handed him money for a period of two years and when his money was depleted he borrowed money from his former employer. He became suspicious when he did not receive the R5 million he was promised.

A case of theft was reported on 12 February 2020 and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commercial Crime Investigation Unit started with the investigation. Felix was arrested on the same day at Durban CBD. He was denied bail and remanded in custody until the day of his sentence.

Source: South African Police Service

A weekly report on dam levels issued by the Department of Water and Sanitation has shown a decline in Limpopo water levels from last week’s 87,2% to 86,3% this week. During a similar period last year, the province’s overall storage capacity stood at 87%, which is a decrease this year.

This minimal increase means that the available water in the province as of this week is at 1277.0 cubic metres out of a full capacity of 1480.1 cubic metres.

The Polokwane Water Supply System with dams supplying water to Polokwane and surrounding areas is currently at 101,8%, a decrease from last week’s 105,4%. It is also a decline from last year at this time when the system stood at 104,4%.

Modjadji Dam, Middel-Letaba Dam, and Houtrivier Dam remained unchanged this week and last week. They are sitting at 36,9%; 0,7% and 97,2% respectively. Tonteldoos Dam also experienced no movement, with 100,5% this week and last week.

Flag Boshielo Dam trickled from 108,1% last week to 103,2% this week. De Hoop Dam also took a dip, but slightly, it was 100,9% last week and this week it is standing at 101,6%. Glen Alpine Dam dropped significantly from 110,4% last week to 103,2% this week. Nandoni Dam also took a dip from 101,4% last week to 101,2% this week.

Magoebaskloof Dam improved enormously from last week’s 100,5% to this week’s 104,5%. Doorndraai Dam also improved slightly, from last week’s 98,8% to this week’s 99,4%. Ebenezer Dam only improved from 98,0% last week, and 98,1% this week.

The Department of Water and Sanitation has reiterated its call to residents to continue using water sparingly. The communities are also encouraged to report any water leaks and water infrastructure vandalism to local authorities.

Source: Government of South Africa

NELSPRUIT – Stop and search operation conducted by Kaapmuiden SAPS partnered by Komatipoort K9 (canine) resulted in a major bust whereby 58 plastic bags containing 53kg of Christal Meth, worth about R53 million in street value, was recovered.

The recovery led to the arrest of two suspects, Reginald Francisco De Maura Tomàs (32) and Reginaldo Joào Tomàs (30), on Tuesday 17 January 2023 at about 10:00 at Nkomazi Toll Plaza.

It took a blink of an eye for the police dog to respond to the drugs which were concealed in different compartments of their South African registered vehicle with Gauteng registration plates.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the vehicle was not reported stolen.

Both suspects made a brief appearance at Barberton Magistrate’s Court yesterday and remanded in custody for the second court appearance in Low’s Creek Magistrate’s Court today, Thursday 19 January 2023.

The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela applauded members for their outstanding work done and indicated that at no stage Mpumalanga will be used as a smooth passage for drug traffickers.

Source: South African Police Service