Bodies of Missing Police Officers Recovered
The heart-wrenching case of three missing South African Police Service (SAPS) officers reached a tragic conclusion when their bodies were recovered from the Hennops River, reports IOL. SAPS National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola confirmed that the remains of Constables Keamogetswe Buys, Boipelo Senoge, and Cebekhulu Linda were among five bodies retrieved and later identified by their families at the Tshwane mortuary. The officers had last been seen at a petrol station near the Grasmere Toll Plaza, after which their vehicle's tracking devices and cellphones were switched off. An extensive search was conducted across Gauteng, the Free State, and Limpopo, leading to a breakthrough when vehicle parts linked to the missing VW Polo were found. This led investigators to a Renault Kangoo panel van near the Hennops River, where divers recovered the bodies. General Masemola thanked the families and SAPS task team for their support, and a R350,000 reward was offered for information related to the case.
Final Arguments to Resume in Missing Joshlin Smith Case
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The Joshlin Smith kidnapping case is set to resume after the lawyer for the accused, Jacquen Appollis, challenged the state's reliance on the testimony of Lourentia Lombard, a former accused turned state witness, reports SABC News. Lawyer Fannie Harmse argued in court that Lombard's statement contained discrepancies and contradictions. Lombard had testified that Smith sold her six-year-old daughter to a sangoma for R20,000. The girl's mother ,Kelly Smith, Appollis, and Steveno van Rhyn are on trial in relation to the child's disappearance from her Middelpos home in Saldanha Bay in February 2024. Harmse questioned the state's two conflicting versions of events based on Lombard's and Smith's statements. The state has described this as the first case of its kind in South Africa, with the main source of information, or the most important witness, Joshlin, still missing.
Ekurhuleni's Efforts Paying Off in Curbing Electricity Account Tampering
The City of Ekurhuleni made progress in addressing revenue leakages after losing R2 billion in the first quarter of the financial year, mainly due to tampering with electricity accounts, reports EWN. Between July and September, over a thousand households and businesses underpaid for electricity or had their debts erased from the system. However, Ekurhuleni Mayor Doctor Xhakaza reported that losses significantly decreased in the following quarters, dropping to R587 million in the second quarter and R416 million in the third, indicating a substantial intervention to curb the financial losses.
