Members of Kempton Park SAPS are saddened by the loss of two of their own in December.

W/O Ndebele Sidwel Nthede passed away after he was shot in his home on December 20, while W/O Lesiba Johannes Mapholo passed away in Limpopo on December 28 after a short illness, reports

“Police were summoned to Kerk Street after a metro police officer was stopped by a member of the public who informed her about gunshots at the said address,” said Sgt Dipuo Ditshego, deputy spokesperson for Kempton Park SAPS.

“On arrival, they discovered cartridges just outside the house and proceeded inside where they discovered the body of Nthede in a pool of blood.

“Next to him was a wallet with cash and his firearm still in the holster.”

Ditshego said Nthede was shot several times in the upper body and was declared dead by paramedics on the scene.

“According to a witness who was with the deceased, they had just returned from withdrawing a large amount of money from Standard Bank at Festival Mall when the incident occurred,” explained Ditshego.

“The witness said they entered the home and did various things when they heard gunshots coming from the kitchen area. Suspicions are that it could have been a bank following but the surprising factor is that nothing was taken by the suspects, including the money withdrawn.”

Officers at the police station were shocked and saddened to learn of the two deaths with Ditshego, stating how hard it had been on the members.

Nthede, originally from Qwaqwa, joined the police force in 1987 and worked at Kempton Park SAPS as a detective until his death. He was a father of two and was laid to rest on January 4.

Mapholo worked at Kempton Park SAPS performing court duties and joined the police force in 1990. He leaves behind his wife and five children. He was laid to rest on January 5 at his home in Ga-Mphahlele, Limpopo.

African National Congress (ANC) national executive committee (NEC) member Dr Zweli Mkhize has called for an end to gatekeeping and factions within the governing party and for it to serve communities rather than personal interests and those of its elected officials.

Mkhize was on Wednesday speaking at the governing party’s January 8th celebration in KwaZulu-Natal at its Moses Mabhida region at the gravesite of the party’s leader Harry Gwala.

Mkhize called on ANC members to correct the wrongs, such as gatekeeping, within the organisation.

He said gatekeeping was alien to the governing party and that those that joined the ANC did so out of their own will and a desire in their hearts “to work for communities” and not to serve their personal interests.

Mkhize reiterated his call for an end to gatekeeping as it could lead to the governing party’s demise.

He further urged the party’s members, wherever they were, to work towards ensuring that the ANC was unified and that internal disputes were resolved.

“Factions should come to an end because we want people to know that this organisation would not have been this strong if factions [existed within it],” Mkhize said, adding that the ANC would not have grown to its current state if factions plagued the party.

As a way of celebrating the party’s 108th anniversary, which is today, January 8, Mkhize said its rank and file should reach out to communities and remind them that the governing party was still in existence and that it would continue with its work of serving them.

Mkhize said since the ANC pulled the levers of power and governs councils and municipalities, the latter structures should bring about progress to the country’s citizenry and that the situation where elected politicians allow their hangers-on to feed on public funds should be avoided.

“It should be known that we are here to work for communities and not for the stomachs of those who have been elected,” Mkhize said.

Honouring and paying respect to the ANC’s “heroes” – such as Harry Gwala – was meant to revive the consciences of the party’s members and serve as a reminder to them about what the governing party stands for and why they had joined it in the first place, Mkhize said.

He added that the party should remain the hope of the people.

An 11-month-old baby boy was caught in the crossfire between suspected rival gangs in Windmill Park, reports Boksburg Advertiser.

The incident happened around noon on January 2.

Succumbing to the gunshot wounds, Siyabonga Buthelezi, who would have turned a year old on January 9, died in hospital on January 3.

According to his grandmother, Bernadette Lange, Siyabonga, who lived with his mother and father in Natalspruit, was with her sister at her next-door neighbour’s house when the shooting started.

Lange said about 30 shots went off and she lay flat on the ground inside her house.

“While I was lying down, my 12-year-old granddaughter rushed back home carrying Siyabonga. When she entered the yard one of the stray bullets hit Siyabonga on the upper body.

“My granddaughter came running into the house screaming they had shot him. When I checked him, I didn’t see blood as he was busy crawling as normal.

“When I assessed him I then saw that indeed Siya was shot. I was so confused, I

Lange said due to her previous experiences regarding the ambulances’ response time, she decided to phone her sister, who arrived with her husband and they took them to Tambo Memorial Hospital.

“On arrival at the hospital, Siya was attended to and was transferred to the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital. The following day, we got a call from the hospital alerting us that he had passed away,” Lange said.

Lange’s neighbour Luzane Badenhorst said when the shooting began, she was sitting in her yard.

“Everything happened so quickly that it left us confused. I was the one who came out and phoned the ambulance, but after a few minutes I had to call the operator to cancel the ambulance because Lange decided to use a private vehicle to take the child to hospital,” Badenhorst said.

Siyabonga’s devastated mother, Uzelle Maine, couldn’t hold back her tears while speaking to the Boksburg Advertiser at her mother’s house on January 6.

Maine said her baby boy was her friend.

“He was a sweet child who I had bonded with so much and now knowing that I won’t see him again breaks my heart. He had started saying names like ‘mama’ and ‘papa’. He also loved to play,” Maine said.

Siyabonga’s father, Schoeman Buthelezi, said his child was an innocent gift from God and now that gift had been taken away from him.

“I am shattered, I don’t even have words to describe how I feel. My son’s death came as a surprise and shock because we never thought something like this would happen. We don’t even have money to bury Siya because we spent all the money during the holidays,” Buthelezi said.

Buthelezi said they don’t have money for mortuary, food and other expenses for the funeral.

“We appeal for help from anyone who would like to assist us bury my son and we would welcome any help from any funeral parlours, bus companies and food stores,” he said.

Dawn Park SAPS spokesperson Const Nkemeleng Mabula said it was alleged that two men came out of a white Polo vehicle and started shooting at a man who was walking on foot.

“A shootout ensued between the three men and unfortunately an 11-month-old baby who was being carried by her sister got shot. Two of the men managed to flee the scene, but the police managed to arrest the suspect who was walking on foot,” she said.”

Mabula said the suspect was shot in the leg. She could not confirm if the shootout was gang-related.

“The suspect was arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. He appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on January 6,” Mabula said.

An alleged serial rapist linked to 19 cases, including 15 of rape and four of robbery, is expected to appear in court in Limpopo.

The spokesperson of the police in the province, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said the suspect was arrested following “the relentless efforts by members of the South African Police Service [SAPS]” in the province.

Mojapelo said the SAPS in Limpopo are adamant on stamping out “the scourge of sexual offences and other serious crimes”.

He added that the 30-year-old alleged serial rapist was arrested in Mokopane on Monday, January 6.

“The suspect was allegedly terrorizing communities in Mokopane and Mahwelereng, in Limpopo as well as Jabulani and Naledi in Soweto, Gauteng.

“He has already been linked with 15 cases of rape and four of robberies that were committed during a period of seven years, from 2011 to 2018. His alleged methods of operation included breaking into the houses where the unsuspecting victims were sleeping, threatening them and then raping them.”

Provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba has “appreciated the sterling investigative work done by the [SAPS] members, especially those attached to the Investigative Psychology Unit (IPU) and the Serial and Electronic Crimes Investigation (SECI)”.

“Their efforts in putting this alleged serial rapist behind bars, have surely gotten rid of one of the heartless criminals who were apparently hellbent on instilling fear in the minds of many women.”

The suspect will appear in Mokopane Magistrate Court on Wednesday, January 8.