Johannesburg – A woman was found dead, her hands cut off and her cellphone and keys inside her sliced open stomach on Friday, Limpopo police said.

The 20-year-old’s body was found in bushes at the Mandlikazi village near Letsitele, police spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said.

“The body had its arms tied at the back, hands cut off and the deceased’s house keys and cellphone were placed inside her stomach which was cut open.”

She was believed to be from the Relela village, about 8km from where the body was found.

“Police are not ruling out the possibilities of this being a ritual-related murder,” Mulaudzi said.

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Rustenburg – A North West police spokesperson, Thulani Ngubane, said that three criminal cases relating to Amcu’s ongoing strike in the platinum sector were opened on Friday.

A strike by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) at Impala, Lonmin and Anglo American Platinum entered its second day on Friday.
Amcu wants an entry-level monthly salary of R12 500.

The first case involved a 37-year-old woman, who was assaulted by two men with iron rods at Impala Platinum’s number 11 shaft  early on Friday morning.

Ngubane said: “The suspects are alleged to be Amcu members who were trying to prevent her from reporting for duty. The police are in hot pursuit of the suspects.”

Windscreen

In another incident t Impala Platinum, a 34-year-old man had a firearm pointed at him by a man who threatened to shoot him.

“The third case was also reported by a 29-year-old male, who alleges that his BMW 320 windscreen was damaged by an unknown white male at 11 shaft of Impala Platinum.”

A case of malicious damage to property had been opened.

Ngubane said a preliminary investigation into the torching of a Chinese-owned furniture shop in Wonderkop on Thursday night showed that the fire had been caused by an electrical fault.

“Even though the matter [was] not strike-related, we still urge business and private property owners in Marikana to intensify security in their business areas, especially at night,” said Ngubane.

Intimidation

“This will complement the day and night work done by police officers on the dusty streets of Marikana.”

The police reiterated their call on striking miners to respect the rule of law.

“It is our belief that we share a common goal of a peaceful strike, free from violence and intimidation,” said Ngubane.

He said striking miners had dispersed by Friday afternoon.

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Pretoria – Police fired discontinued shotgun rounds during a service delivery protest in Mothutlung, North West, in which four protesters were killed last week, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Friday.

The SSG 12-gauge rounds, which contain pellets, were officially discontinued by the SA Police Service in 2006, and were “not supposed to be used”, he told reporters in Pretoria.

Three people died in Mothutlung during the protests over water services — two allegedly shot by police, while another died after falling out of a police vehicle. A fourth, shot in the head, died in hospital a week later.

Responding to questions, Mthethwa said no live ammunition had been used by police at the protest.

Delivery protests

He announced that 14 police officers — six constables, six warrant officers and two lieutenants — were facing disciplinary action.

“Six are already suspended and others are being served with their suspension notices.”

The disciplinary process could take up to 60 days. All of them were “well-experienced and practised” members of the public order policing unit, Mthethwa said.

According to police, a total of 185 shots were fired at protesters in Mothutlung last week during the water delivery protests.

These included rubber shot and the discontinued SSG rounds, as well as two stun grenades and a number of smoke grenades.

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Johannesburg – A man accused of killing his one-year-old son appeared in the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court in Kimberley on Friday, the National Prosecuting Authority said.

The case was postponed to 24 February for further investigation, said Northern Cape NPA spokesperson Mashudu Malabi.

Sylvester Modise, 27, was arrested on 12 January after the burnt remains of his son were found in a trench in Galeshewe.

Police suspected that Modise reported him missing the day after the murder in an attempt to mislead them.

The toddler’s mother raised questions after she told police she did not believe Modise’s story about the boy going missing, said spokesperson Olebogeng Tawana at the time.

Tawana said the burnt body had been found wrapped in a towel.

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Cape Town – Better sanitation for informal settlement dwellers could reduce Khayelitsha’s crime problems, a local activist told the Khayelitsha commission of inquiry on Friday.

Social Justice Coalition (SJC) activist Phumeza Mlungwana was the last person to take the stand in week one of the commission’s hearings on claims of police inefficiency in the area, in Cape Town.

“People would be less vulnerable to crime… if sanitation is sorted and the relationship between sanitation and crime is addressed,” Mlungwana said.

Many people were robbed while walking to communal toilets or to the bushes at night to relieve themselves, she told the commissioners, retired Judge Kate O’Regan and Advocate Vusi Pikoli.

Mlungwana told the packed hall in Khayelitsha, where the hearings are being held, about her own experiences with crime.

“I’ve been robbed a couple of time going to school… to the Sanlam Centre,” she said.

Reporting the robberies was futile, as she did not expect the criminals to be arrested or her belongings to be recovered.

Earlier, the commission heard from the relatives of two men killed by vigilantes.

Nomakhuma Bontshi, the aunt of 30-year-old Andile Ntsholo, who was necklaced in May 2012, broke down and dabbed away tears with a blue handkerchief after telling commissioners her story. Necklacing involves placing a car tyre over someone’s head and setting it alight.

The night before her nephew was found dead in B-section, residents gathered at her sister’s house and told them they would be packing his bags and forcing him out of the area because he was accused of stealing cellphones from residents, Bontshi said. His charred body was found in Khayelitsha the next morning.

“The police arrived at our house the next morning and asked us who could have done this and we said we don’t know.”

She said it was the first and last time they heard from police.

“We never got around to find out everything from the police. All I know is God will reveal who did this.”

Interaction with police

Norman Arendse, for the police, asked her why she had not contacted the police when her nephew’s neighbours threatened to evict him.

“Because the residents were so angry…. We thought even the police wouldn’t be able to do anything about it,” she answered.

Harare resident Mzoxolo Tame was the next to take the stand. Tame’s cousin Xolisile was killed in January last year after allegedly being caught breaking into a house.

Tame told the commission of his encounter with the investigating officer, shortly before his cousin’s body was identified. He described the officer as rude, dismissive and disrespectful.

When asked what the detective told him, he quoted the officer.

“He said, I quote: ‘The laaitie [youth] was caught with his body halfway through the window of a house and he was moered [beaten up]’,” said Tame.

A woman, her son, and another man were arrested and later released on bail. Tame said he had yet to hear from Harare police how far the case had progressed.

He told O’Regan and Pikoli how he felt about the attitude of police officers in Harare in general.

“They don’t understand their fundamental responsibility… They think they are doing the community a favour,” Tame said.

“Their attitude is not that of public servants.”

The commission was set up to probe allegations of police inefficiency in Khayelitsha following several mob justice killings, allegedly as a result of residents’ frustrations with police inaction.

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