Image: Kabelo Mokoena
Siyabonga Buthelezi was in his sister’s arms in the yard of his modest Windmill Park home when a stray bullet tore through his little body in the crossfire between rival gang members.
He died in hospital a day after the shooting in the east of Johannesburg. He would have turned one a week later.
Image: iStock
A 18-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl were arrested after a couple were attacked at their Centurion home, police said on Tuesday.
Barnie and Magda van Heerden were attacked at their home in Pierre van Ryneveld Park on Thursday night.
Police spokesperson Brig Mathapelo Peters said their son, Ruan, was arrested for allegedly attacking his parents with a golf club. They were also stabbed.
Magda was airlifted to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg after the incident.
Peters said Ruan and a girl alleged to have been involved in the attack fled the scene in Barnie’s car, which was found abandoned near Tembisa several hours later.
Ruan was arrested in Aliwal North in the Eastern Cape. He appeared in the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Monday on charges of attempted murder.
The girl was arrested in Waterkloof, Pretoria, on Monday. She is expected to appear in the same court on Tuesday on charges of attempted murder and use of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent.
The power utility was slamming reports that it had informed municipalities about such plans.
In a statement, Eskom said in keeping with its obligations in terms of the Disaster Management Act, “we are required to develop contingency plans for identified major incidents. A Severe Supply Constraint is one of these, for which we have plans in place. Eskom also continually improves these plans.”
After 2015, Eskom and the municipalities identified the need to extend the planning in place related to the number of stages of load-shedding. The national code was subsequently updated after significant engagement with stakeholders in 2016/17, said the statement.
“ … Eskom and most municipal suppliers have developed load-shedding schedules that cater for stages 1 to 8. When stage 6 load-shedding was implemented in December, not all metros or municipalities had published their extended load-shedding schedules.
“The Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities (AMEU) therefore engaged most of its members to confirm their compliance to the code — ie whether stages 5 to 8 had been published by those metros that had not yet done so,” said the statement.
Image: Desiree Johnson
The 11- year-old daughter of Liana Petersen, one of the women who was shot dead in Melville, witnessed her mother take her last breaths.
Petersen and her daughter moved to Johannesburg from Cape Town about a year ago.
The 41-year-old was killed after shots were fired indiscriminately at patrons just after 1am on New Year’s Day at Poppy’s Restaurant.
The incident claimed the lives of two women, including Petersen, while six other patrons were wounded and hospitalised.
Her sister, Desiree Johnson, told TimesLIVE Petersen’s daughter was at the restaurant when her mother was shot.
“It is not good for a child to witness her mother being shot and killed in a few seconds,” she said.
The daughter was undergoing counselling and living with her father in Johannesburg, she said.
Petersen, who grew up in Hanover Park, Cape Town, was laid to rest on Saturday.
The family was still reeling after her brutal murder.“Her funeral was sad and very emotional. We are still in disbelief and asked ourselves if it really happened to her,” Johnson said.
Their upbringing wasn’t easy, she said, but her sister “pushed and worked hard” at school.
“She was a go-getter and didn’t allow her situation to deter her from reaching her goals. She was career-driven, hardworking and organised.”
Johnson described Petersen as a fun, loving and vibrant person who loved being around people.
“She cared for her daughter very much and always wanted the best for her. I miss her smile and laughter, and our chats.
“I will never hear her voice again and I will never see her smile again.”
The other woman killed, Samantha Basdew, 29, was also laid to rest at the weekend, in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape.
“Everyone is still emotional and we can’t come to terms to what happened. We are trying to cope. I think reality will kick in when everyone is away and starts getting quiet,” her uncle, Wayne Daniels, said.
Daniels said Basdew’s father, Phillip, was taking her death “extremely hard”
“He is OK under the circumstances.”
No arrests have been made.
Image: Supplied
Mogale City mayor Naga Patrick Lipudi died on Sunday morning aged 59.
According to Sabelo Ngwane, chief administration officer in the mayor’s office, Lupudi was in and out of hospital due to an illness the family could not disclose.
“He had been home recuperating but was readmitted on Saturday at Helen Joseph Hospital and died this morning [Sunday].
“His family is not taking the sudden death well,” Ngwane said.
The date of his funeral has not yet been confirmed.
Lipudi became mayor in 2017, when he replaced Michael Holenstein.