City of Pretoria – Page 2

New crime trend! Cops say wi-fi detectors used to steal cellphones, laptops from cars

Pretoria - Police believe they have uncovered the reason behind the high number of theft of cellphones and laptops out of cars in the city and anywhere else across the country. Spokesperson Captain Collett Weilbach said criminals were using increasingly sophisticated, directional wi-fi detectors to home in on the laptop or cellphone. This could detect the gadgets from where they had been hidden, be it under the seat of the car or in the boot. Weilbach urged members of the public, particularly motorists, to turn off the wi-fi of laptops and cellphones to avoid opening an invitation to thieves. Police in the Brooklyn area, largely populated by students, as well as Sunnyside and the CBD have reported on an increase in the number of laptops stolen out of motor vehicles. “I parked my car and walked to a restaurant, and all was well. On my return about two hours later, I noticed that one of the rear windows had been smashed. "I checked under the driver’s seat where …

Pretoria’s homeless people targeted by ‘Serial killer’ – bodies of three victims found over period of twee weeks

A serial killer may be on the loose in Pretoria, targeting homeless people sleeping in parks in the city. According to eNCA, three homeless men have been murdered in the same manner in the past two weeks. The station reported that the latest body was found on Tuesday at the Magnolia Dell Park in Muckleneuk. Another body was reportedly found in the same park, while the body of a third victim was found close to the park two weeks ago, according to Pretoria News. All victims were reportedly killed in their sleep. They were stabbed and hit by a blunt object, according to eNCA. Around 6 000 people in Pretoria are reportedly considered homeless. According to a representative of an NGO who works closely with homeless people in the city, more homeless people have reported being attacked in a similar way, but managed to escape. Lucky escape "They've been reporting violence towards them. We spoke to a guy three weeks ago who was sleeping when he was stabbed. He w…

Wow, now this is how you steel to support your legal issues:- Dr. Noeketsi Mosola spent R2.4m from municipal coffers on legal wrangle

Tshwane city manager Moeketsi Mosola has spent a whopping R2.4million from municipal coffers on his legal fight with former executive mayor Solly Msimanga. Mayoral spokesperson Norman Mohale said the matter came under scrutiny in light of information that the City didn’t have a policy on the provision of legal fees for employees. He said incumbent executive mayor Stevens Mokgalapa was briefed about the situation and had asked for a comprehensive report. Msimanga and Mosola wrangled over a report related to a contract awarded to GladAfrica in November 2017 to assist with the rollout of City infrastructure. The contract was in January declared irregular by the Auditor-General. It has since been terminated by mutual agreement from both parties. The report on the contract was compiled by independent investigators Bowmans, which had been mandated by the council to probe the alleged irregularities related to the awarding of the multimillion-rand tender. Msimanga was…

Centurion residents taught how to avoid driveway hijackings by RICHARD BRUSSOW of the National Hijack Prevention Academy

Centurion residents were on Saturday taught about how to avoid becoming victims of hijackings in driveways. This was during a workshop at Laerskool Louis Leipoldt in Lyttelton, where former police officer Richard Brussow spoke to them about prevention of crimes such as hijacking and robbery. Brussow, who established the National Hijack Prevention Academy in 2001, said 68% of hijackings happened in driveways and could be avoided. He has more than 15 years of experience in motor vehicle crime investigation, organized crime, motor vehicle theft, metro police crime prevention, and vehicle tracking. Brussow educated his audience about tricks used by hijackers, their motivation, factors that lead to attacks and categories of hijacked vehicles. Robbers liked using service stations as a base to prey on unsuspecting victims, he said. Once they had identified their victims they drove behind them until they arrived home. Brussow advised motorists to always look at the ca…

The City of Tshwane is pulling the plug on smart meters contract with Peu

The City of Tshwane’s daily payment to its erstwhile electricity smart meters contractor Peu Capital Partners has been drastically reduced from R4million to R1.8m. In addition, MMC for utility services Abel Tau said the municipality has covered ground towards the replacement of the almost 13 000 meters that had already been installed as part of the deal. The replacement of the meters comes after AfriBusiness succeeded in having the Peu irregular smart meter contract set aside in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. But Tau said the reduction of daily payments to Peu was the essence of what the City wanted residents to know about. “We have made a decision that would save the City a huge amount of money to ensure that we can take those savings and redirect them to service delivery,” he said. Regarding the sum of R4m previously paid to Peu, he said: “I checked last week and the amount has drastically dropped. I think we were at R1.8m” He said the City was making inr…

It’s all systems go for Atteridgeville R1.2bn Capital Mall

The much-anticipated R1.2 billion Capital Mall in Atteridgeville will go ahead despite efforts to halt its construction on the basis that it would “cannibalize” smaller shopping centres in the vicinity. MMC for Economic Development and Spatial Planning Isak Pietersen said the City of Tshwane's Appeals Tribunal successfully intervened in the impasse, which threatened to block the development. The legal wrangling was between the developer, McCormick Property Development, and Safari Investments, over the threats posed by the new mall on the existing shopping centres. Pietersen said the complaint was overturned on the basis that it lacked substance and went against the spirit of competition permitted in business. He said the mall construction was an example of what the City wanted to do by creating a conducive economic environment for job creation. “The aim of the City is to make sure we create those jobs and this is going to make sure that we create jobs,” he said. …

Tshwane city manager, Dr Moeketsi Mosola, reprimanded for aborted China trip

Tshwane city manager Dr. Moeketsi Mosola has received a serious talking-to from executive mayor Stevens Mokgalapa about the controversial authorization of a trip by officials to China. Mokgalapa called off the trip in April after it came to his attention that Mosola “erroneously” signed a document on his behalf. He then called for an investigation to determine how the anomaly in the documents occurred. On Monday he broke his silence in the wake of the probe, saying he had already given the implicated parties a tongue-lashing. “I did reprimand those who were involved. For me the fact that it was canceled and that the city never incurred any funds for it; it ended there,” he said. Asked who exactly he reprimanded, he said: “It was the city manager I reprimanded because that was his signature.” He said that his message to Mosola was that what happened with the China trip must not repeat itself. “What I have received was that it was done in hindsight and I request…

Father of two was shot six times in a home invasion incident in north of Pretoria

A father of two in the north of Pretoria was in a critical condition after he was shot six times in a home invasion. “It’s so surreal. I cannot believe my husband Jan is in ICU and fighting for his life,” Lorna Schoeman told Rekord. A normal weekday for the Schoeman family in Great Dane Street in Hesteapark turned into a nightmare when two men suddenly entered their home at around 04:50. Schoeman said she was in the kitchen preparing their children’s school lunches when she heard a window break. “Something was thrown through the window, and the next moment there were two unknown men in our house.” A struggle ensued between her husband Jan, who had just woken up, and the attackers in the hallway. “The next moment the gunshots were fired,” said Schoeman. Schoeman said Jan was rushed to the Netcare Montana Hospital. “The bullets did a lot of damage. I just want my husband to recover; there is still a long road ahead as he is in critical condition.” The c…

Two more suspects arrested in connection with Mamelodi pre-school robbery

Gauteng police have arrested two more suspects in connection with the robbery of international students at a pre-school in Mamelodi East, Pretoria, earlier this month. According to police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters, one of the suspects was arrested in Limpopo on Friday while the other was caught in Mpumalanga on Saturday. Eighteen students and two professors from the US, who were on an outreach visit at the Viva Foundation School in Mamelodi East, were attacked and robbed by five armed suspects two weeks ago. Service Maimela, 30, was arrested a few days later at the Pienaarspoort informal settlement in Mamelodi East. He appeared in the Mamelodi Magistrate's Court last Monday on charges of robbery, attempted murder and assault. The matter was postponed to Monday, May 27 for further investigations, said Peters. Peters said the police were still processing the dockets of the two additional suspects, adding that they were most likely to appear in co…

Tshwane Metro Police Department officers pounce on robbery suspects

Pretoria - Tshwane Metro Police Department officers on Sunday arrested three men for possession of a car that was taken during a house robbery in Limpopo about two weeks ago. The arrests were made in Barnett and Hilda streets in Hatfield at about 11am. The suspects had been on the run after committing another crime on Saturday. Metro Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said the vehicle's original number plate had been replaced. The suspects, aged 24, 32 and 37, are facing charges of house robbery, attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, as well as possession of a hijacked motor vehicle. Mahamba said two charges were opened in Limpopo and the others yesterday in Pretoria. “Between May 18 and 19, three suspects went to a house in Limpopo and committed house robbery and took a VW bakkie, a firearm, R4000 and bank cards and went to withdraw R5000 from the victim's account. “On Saturday night they went to a pub in L…