Category: General

GQEBERHA – A 45-year-old security guard was fatally wounded when intruders surprised them at an electrical depot in Swartkops during the early hours of this morning.

It is alleged that at about 00:50, two security guards were in the guard room when they noticed someone at their door. The suspects then tried to lock them inside but the guards managed to open the door. One of the guard’s managed to escape while the suspects held his colleague inside the guard room. When two shots were fired outside, the guard in the room managed to escape.

Thereafter, about 10 suspects were seen fleeing the depot. He found his colleague lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to his head.

Nothing was taken from the premises.

Police are investigating a case of murder.

Anyone who can assist in tracing the suspects is asked to contact D/Sgt Luyanda Maneli at SAPS Swartkops on 082 442 1683 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111. All information is confidential and callers may remain anonymous.

Source: South African Police Service

South Africa has expressed concern at the plight of citizens who seek safety and security among the deepening crisis in Afghanistan.

“The South African government has taken note of the unfolding situation in Afghanistan and is particularly concerned by the plight of thousands of displaced Afghanis seeking safety and security amid the deepening crisis in Afghanistan,” said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

This as media reported that the Taliban took over the capital Kabul and that President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, with some Afghani cities taken over by the Taliban.

In a statement on Tuesday, the South African government called on the authority in power to ensure that the rule of law, human rights and safety of all Afghans and foreign nationals alike are protected.

“We wish to appeal to all military and security groups to exercise the utmost restraint and protect the lives and property of the people.

“The South African government furthermore encourages all Afghan parties involved in the internal conflict to ceaselessly search for a solution through dialogue, restoration of stability and an orderly transition to a new government.”

The department said South Africans in Afghanistan could contact its consular section.

“The Department of International Relations and Cooperation have established, via the South African High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, that they are in contact with a number of South African nationals based in Afghanistan to ensure their safety and provide the necessary consular assistance.”

Source: South African Government News Agency

The University of Pretoria (UP) has launched South Africa’s first exclusive Diabetes Research Centre at a public academic institution.

Approved by the university senate in November last year, the centre is a collaborative initiative that brings together all the research happening in silos in different departments.

The centre’s Senior Project Manager, Dr Patrick Ngassa Piotie, said that although housed in the Faculty of Health Sciences, the centre adopts a transdisciplinary approach and works across faculties to develop research that aims to improve the lives of people living with diabetes.

“It is a holistic approach to address the challenges around diabetes, from prevention to care, and will lead to a new vision in diabetes research,” Piotie said.

Diabetes, which is caused by too high blood glucose levels, is the second most common natural cause of death in South Africa, where 4.6 million people live with the condition.

According to the Department of Health, only 19% of people with diabetes treated in the public health system manage to control their glucose levels. The uncontrolled diabetes can lead to strokes, blindness, heart attacks, kidney failure or amputation.

Dr Piotie explained that the centre’s research strategy is organised around six clusters, including the prevention of diabetes; diabetes management in primary healthcare; its management in hospitals; gestational diabetes (developed during pregnancy); diabetes in children and adolescents; and diabetes technology.

“The centre’s main project to date is the Tshwane Insulin Project (TIP). Punted as “translational research in its prime”, it is impacting the lives of South Africans living with type 2 diabetes as they transition from oral drugs to insulin through the implementation of a nurse-driven, app-enabled and community-oriented intervention.

“One of the centre’s mandates is academic development. Being a university, we want to keep producing scientific knowledge that is relevant and impactful. In the long term, we want to develop researchers, a new generation of African investigators in translational and health systems research, and implementation science,” Dr Piotie said.

He noted that the centre has already received a number of proposals, including one from UP’s Department of Psychology, to look at the challenges people with diabetes experience in adopting healthy eating habits and taking up exercises.

“Existing research includes a study by Dr Maria Karsas of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health on COVID-19 and diabetes, a PhD in dietetics on the dietary implementation of glycaemic load on blood glucose control of patients with diabetes, and tech-based solutions to disease management, such as the use of sensors to monitor glucose continuously in patients admitted to hospital in a diabetic coma,” Dr Piotie said.

Another use of technology that the centre will pioneer includes telehealth, where healthcare is provided remotely by means of telecommunication tools, including phones or smartphones.

The Senior Project Manager said these services can include patient education or consultations with a specialist, a crucial aid in the South African public healthcare environment where there is often a shortage of health professionals.

“The centre recently obtained approvals from the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Research Ethics Committee as well as the Tshwane Research Committee to pilot a screening programme for diabetes retinopathy using telehealth and artificial intelligence. Primary care patients will have access to a state-of-the-art camera that detects eye damage due to diabetes,” he said.

In addition to its research activities, Dr Piotie said the centre will offer healthcare providers training, including a three-day workshop on diabetes and insulin management for nurses in primary care to be administered by Enterprises UP.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Chairperson Nonhlanhla Ncube-Ndaba, has commended the Commission for Gender Equality’s (CGE) decision to place Commissioner Mbuyiselo Botha on precautionary suspension after his verbal attack on fellow commissioners.

In a recording, which was doing the rounds in the media, Botha is heard objectifying and demeaning the CGE Chairperson Tamara Mathebula, her Deputy Nthabiseng Moleko and two other Commissioners, Nomasonto Mazibuko and Advocate Nthabiseng Sepanya Mogale.

In a sound clip Botha is heard calling Mazibuko an albino and accuses Mathebula of lacking a backbone.

Ncube-Ndaba said referring to someone as an albino is an unacceptable derogatory characterisation of South Africans who experience disabilities.

“Furthermore, it is a shocking gross discrimination that belongs to the dark era of apartheid,” Ncube-Ndaba said.

Last week, the commission appeared before the committee on among other things, the CGE’s response to Commissioner Botha’s matter and the key operational matters of concern.

The CGE reported that Botha will appear before a disciplinary hearing that the CGE has instituted.

Ncube-Ndaba said the suspension of Commissioner Botha and his appearance before a disciplinary committee for a hearing is befitting and justifiable for the gross and shocking discrimination heard in the recording.

“We are looking forward, as the committee to the outcome of the internal disciplinary hearing and wish it to proceed well,” Ncube-Ndaba said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

PARKTOWN – Police in Gauteng closed more than 40 unlicensed liquor outlets in Tshwane and other parts of Gauteng that includes Ekurhuleni and West Rand. Police have this past week raided wanted suspects for serious and violent crimes and gender based violence, arrested criminals through intelligence information and tip offs where unlicensed firearms were seized.

Furthermore, a total of 1084 suspects were arrested in Gauteng over the weekend when members of South African Police Service in the province partnered with members of South African National Defence Force, National Traffic Police, Gauteng Traffic Police, Metropolitan Police Departments, Home Affairs, South African Receiver of Revenue and Private Security Companies to fight the scourge of lawlessness in the province. These suspects were arrested for crimes ranging from murder, rape, operating a shop without valid documents, possession of dagga, dealing in drugs, contravening disaster management act, driving under the influence of liquor, illegal immigration, possession of dangerous weapons, unlicensed firearm and ammunition, business robberies, house robberies and theft.

In Tshwane District over 280 suspects were arrested over the past weekend for various crimes including 10 suspects arrested for selling alcohol without valid license, rape, possession of unlicensed firearms and blue light, assault and other serious and violent crimes.

Meanwhile in Ekurhuleni District over 301 suspects were arrested, 12 for drunk driving and others were napped for failing to follow regulations of Covid 19, possession of suspected stolen property and theft. In Sedibeng District arrested 71 suspects during the operation.

Over 199 suspects were arrested in West Rand District and over 100 in Johannesburg District for various crimes including possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, rape, assault and more liquor outlets were raided after they have not closed at the time stipulated on the regulations of covid 19.

Gauteng Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Tommy Mthombeni, applauded the collaboration between the police and other law enforcement agencies to instil stability in the province and bring perpetrators of crime and violence to book. “These arrests and confiscations are a clear indication that the criminals cannot do as they wish in our province and that together with other law enforcement agencies we will continue to squeeze the space for the criminals. As the province, we remain committed in creating a safer Gauteng and we will continue to curb the proliferation of illegal firearms,” said Major General Mthombeni

The arrested suspects will appear in various courts across the Province on Monday, 16 August 2021.

Source: South African Police Service

In an intelligence led operation, the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation (OCI) in Gqeberha recovered catalytic converters worth over R24 million on Friday, 13 August 2021 in Sidwell.

It is alleged that on the mentioned date at about 14:15, the truck driver aged 43-year-old was driving towards Markman when while at the robots at Daku and Salamntu Streets, his truck was blocked off by two bakkies. Two unknown males alighted and got into the truck. The truck was driven to an unknown location and all its contents – 44 pallets of catalytic converters were offloaded. The truck was later driven to Prince Alfred Road in North End and left abandoned with the driver inside.

Immediately investigators from the Provincial OCI started their investigations and at about 18:20, 24 pallets of the stolen converters were recovered at a freight transport company in Commercial Road in Sidwell. A truck was found already loaded with some of the stolen goods. Three suspects aged 29, 31 and 33-year-old were arrested and detained on a charge of truck hijacking. Twenty pallets of the converters are still to be recovered. A jamming device with its charger was also seized.

Police are following up on further information relating to the outstanding converters.

Source: South African Police Service