The Weekend's Most Shocking Stories
A wrap of the past weekend's most shocking crimes , including a report on a former ANCYL branch leader who was shot dead in Esikhawini after firing on police.
FORMER ANCYL BRANCH LEADER SHOT BY POLICE
A former ANC Youth League branch chairman in Esikhawini, outside Empangeni, was shot dead by police inside his house on Saturday afternoon, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said.
"Our comrade, Qinisani Gwala, was shot dead by the police last night inside his house. We condemn the incident," Thulani Mashaba, ANC chairman in the North Coast region, said on Sunday.
He said Gwala had been ANCYL branch chairman for a long time.
"He was at the tribal court when he was taken by the police. They took him to his home where he was shot dead," said Mashaba.
He did not understand why Gwala was shot, saying he had co-operated with the police when they took him.
Police arrested Gwala, 36, on Saturday morning at Mabuyeni Reserve in Esikhawini, Brigadier Phindile Radebe said.
Gwala was wanted for the murder of Eshowe police officer, Captain Kevin Marallich, 53, who was killed on August 28 last year. He was out on bail for possession of a firearm and ammunition.
He asked to go home with the police to collect his identity document.
While he was inside his room, Gwala used a .38 revolver to fire several shots at the police through the window. They returned fire and shot him dead, Radebe said.
Radebe said police had found two unlicensed firearms with Gwala when he was killed.
"He was shot after he shot at the police."
Mashaba said Gwala had been separated from his brother before he was shot.
"They put them in different houses. We really don't understand why he was killed."
Mashaba said police were tasked with protecting citizens and said that if Gwala was shot by police members it revealed "a serious challenge in our society".
The KwaZulu-Natal branch of the ANC called for an investigation by the Independent Complaints Directorate into Gwala's death.
"This incident, if not properly investigated, will pose a threat of polarising the relationship between the community and the police...," he said.
Mashaba extended the party's condolences to Gwala's friends, family, colleagues and community.
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HIJACKER HOLDS SOWETO FAMILY HOSTAGE
A family were held hostage in their shack by an alleged hijacker in Orlando West, Soweto, on Saturday, Gauteng police said.
Lt-Col Lungelo Dlamini said three armed men hijacked a bakery van in Orlando East at 7.20am.
The driver and passenger were robbed of R2000 and two cell phones and forced into the back of the van while the hijackers drove off.
When the hijackers realised the police were after them, they jumped out while the van was in motion and fled on foot, leaving the van to crash into the wall of a house.
The three men fled in different directions and police followed one of them who had a gun.
One of the hijackers jumped over the wall of a house. Police drove into the next street in the same direction and saw a child run out of a house crying.
She told them a stranger had run into their shack and was holding her parents hostage.
Police surrounded the shack while a helicopter hovered above, calling on the hijacker to hand himself over.
The child's father ran out of the shack and told police the hijacker had shot himself.
The hijacker died instantly. A 9mm pistol was recovered from the scene.
He had a pending criminal case involving attempted house breaking and was released on bail on August 30.
Police have launched a manhunt for the other two, who were believed to be staying in Orlando, said Dlamini.
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SOWETO WOMAN HACKED TO DEATH
A woman was hacked to death, allegedly by her brother, in Soweto early Friday morning, Gauteng police said.
"At 4am we were called to Zola One because we received a report of a man in a house trying to chop a woman with an axe," said Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela.
When police arrived, the man was still in the house, trying to exit through a hole he had made in the roof.
"We caught him as he came down, and people who live in the outside room identified him as the woman's brother," Makhubela said.
He was arrested on suspicion of murder and would appear in Protea Magistrate's Court on Monday.
Makhubela said it was believed that the man had murdered his sister because she had inherited the house from her parents.
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WOMAN ATTACKED ON FREE STATE FARM
A woman was shot and wounded on a farm in the Harrismith district on Friday, police said.
Free State police spokesman Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said the 53-year-old woman woke up when the dogs started barking and went to investigate early on Friday morning.
An unknown attacker shot at the woman from outside the house with a shotgun and she was wounded in the chest.
She was on the farm Alfa with her two children, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police were investigating a case of attempted murder.
Mophiring said any person with information that may lead to the arrest and conviction of the attackers should contact the police at Harrismith.
SECURITY GUARD BURNT IN KEMPTON PARK
A security guard suffered severe burn wounds when a heater caught fire at an industrial site in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg, on Monday morning, paramedics said.
ER24 spokesman Derrick Banks said the 33-year-old man was in a critical condition.
He suffered burn wounds over most of his body when he tried to extinguish the fire inside his security hut at a site in Pomona road around 3.45am.
He was airlifted to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg after paramedics stabilised him.
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ANGLER'S BODY RECOVERED AT WITSAND
A dead body, presumed to be that of an angler reported missing, was found on Sunday at Witsand, in the Western Cape, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
The 49-year-old man was reported missing by his wife after he failed to return from night fishing, said Witsand station commander Attie Gunter.
The NSRI were informed that local fishermen had come across a body at the Breede River mouth.
The police recovered the body, which would be formally identified on Monday, Gunter said.
Trauma counsellors and police visited the wife of the missing fisherman, as his clothing and physical description matched those of the body.
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MAN SHOT DEAD IN PE
A 21-year-old man was shot dead in Bethelsdorp, in Port Elizabeth, early Sunday morning, Eastern Cape police said.
"Nolan Fischer was coming out of his home with two friends when an armed man jumped out of a blue Opel Cadet parked outside Fischer's house," said Captain Sandra Janse van Rensberg.
The armed man shot at Fischer and his friends as they ran away.
Fischer was fatally wounded and collapsed in his back yard.
One of his friends was wounded in the buttocks, but had been released from hospital by Sunday afternoon.
Janse van Rensberg said there was a possibility that the incident was gang related.
"The investigation is continuing, and we expect to make an arrest shortly."
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CAPE TOWN WOMAN ARRESTED FOR ABDUCTING BABY
A woman was arrested on Sunday in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, for allegedly abducting a seven-month-old baby girl, police said.
Following up on information, police arrested the woman, 20, at 3pm while she was in possession of the baby, Lt-Col Andre Traut said.
The baby's mother left her with the woman on Saturday night in Brooklyn.
On the mother's return, the two were missing.
"The woman has not yet been charged, but she will appear in court soon," he said.
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ROBBERS KILL MAN IN MOUNT FRERE
A man was killed and his wife injured by a group of men who attacked them at their home near Mthatha, Eastern Cape police said on Sunday.
The men cut the burglar bars of a house in Mount Frere on Saturday night and sneaked in while the couple were away, Lt-Col Mzukisi Fatyela said.
They arrived a short while later while the men were still inside.
As the woman entered the house the men assaulted her with their fists. Her husband rushed in to investigate, and was shot several times in the upper body, Fatyela said. He died on the scene.
The robbers fled with an undisclosed amount of money. The woman was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
A case of murder and robbery was opened. No arrests were made.
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MOLOTO CAPITEC BANK ROBBED
A Capitec bank branch at Moloto Big Tree shopping mall in Mpumalanga has been robbed by a group of armed men, Gauteng police said on Sunday.
A group of about five balaclava-clad men entered the premises on Saturday at 11pm and tied four guards up, Cullinan police spokesman Johannes Jafta said.
The robbers cut holes in the roof of the building and gained entry into the bank's offices.
Police were checking to see if the robbers took money, but a computer was apparently stolen, Jafta said.
A case of armed robbery had been opened. No arrests were made.
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TWOBanks said.
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THREE KILLED IN MTHATHA
Three people were shot dead and a teenage girl injured in Mthatha on Saturday, Eastern Cape police said.
Lt. Colonel Three Mzukisi Fatyela said the 19-year-old teenager was shot in the hip. She was taken to the Mthatha hospital.
"The motive of this shooting is not yet known, a case of murder and attempted murder has been opened."
He said three cartridges were found at the scene.
No arrest have been made.
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HEROIN DEALER CAUGHT IN KZN
A man was arrested when he was found in possession of heroin and mandrax in Winklespruit south of Durban, police said on Saturday.
Colonel Jay Naicker said the 30-year-old-man was arrested on Friday.
Police found the man with 14,000 straws of heroin with an estimated street value of R280,000 and mandrax tablets with an estimated street value of R25,000.
Naicker said the man would appear at the Durban Magistrate's Court on Monday and faces charges of drug dealing.
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EASTERN CAPE WOMAN HIJACKED, RAPED
A woman was hijacked and then raped in Mthatha, Eastern Cape police said on Saturday.
Lt-Col Mzukisi Fatyela said the 50-year-old woman was travelling alone when two armed men hijacked her on Friday night.
"They drove her to Togana where one of the men raped her," he said.
Fatyela said the men drove off afterwards, leaving the woman in Togana.
No arrests had been made.
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SOWETO GIRL GANG-RAPED
Two men were arrested on Friday following the gang-rape of a woman in Zondi, Soweto, police said.
Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said the men were arrested at midnight.
The 19-year-old woman was walking from a friend's house on Thursday evening when three men grabbed her and took her to a house in Zondi.
She was raped by the three men and was told to leave afterwards.
She reported the case to the police and led them to the house where the men raped her.
Only two of the alleged rapists were at the house.
Police were still searching for the third man.
The two would appear at the Protea Magistrate's Court on Monday.
By SAPA / Howzit MSN
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