The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has confirmed that what looks like a supercell storm ripped through Mpumalanga between Ermelo and Piet Retief on Friday.

“There is some indication that it was a supercell storm… there are characteristics that it might have been a tornado,” Bipuo Tawana for SAWS told According to Storm Report who posted the video, “the tornado looks like it was a multi-vortex tornado”.

A deadly shooting just an hour into the new year in Melville, Johannesburg has left residents rattled. The drive-by shooting left two women dead and six other people injured, one in critical condition.

Video footage captured the moments a black BMW SUV drove past Poppy’s restaurant and opened fire on its patrons. Some victims were shot in the pelvis, some in the leg, the back and another is in critical condition after being shot in the head.

Police investigation

On Friday, Gauteng acting premier Panyaza Lesufi assured the media that police are close to “cracking” the case. “Police are convinced…that they are about to crack this case in terms of the information they have gathered and the relevant people who provided the information,” Lesufi said

One victim of the shooting, Mortimer Williams, recounted what happened that night.

Williams said he stepped outside to wish his friends a happy new year when he heard what he thought were fireworks going off.

“But then I felt this thud against my back and that took me to the ground. I thought, ‘those were not crackers, they were gunshots’,” he told News24.

Williams was shot through the pelvis, the bullet narrowly missing his kidney and colon.

Petunia Roets was also shot through the pelvis while standing inside the establishment.

“We were in the restaurant and we saw people falling. When we looked, I just felt this hard blow to my pelvic area and I said: ‘I’ve been shot’,” Roets said.

Speaking to the media at Helen Joseph Hospital, Roets said she is recovering.

While she has lost some sensation in her legs, she is receiving physiotherapy.

The tragedy has left not only the Melville community, but also those who frequent the popular 7th street, reeling.

Three people who were transporting illegal weapons across provinces have been arrested at the De Hoek Plaza toll gate, police said on Sunday.

Police received information about “firearms and ammunition that were in transit from KwaZulu-Natal to Gauteng”, police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said in a statement.

On Saturday afternoon, “police spotted and intercepted the suspects’ vehicle near the De Hoek Plaza toll gate on the N3 and police found in the vehicle three firearms in a box with a lot of ammunition”.

The three people were arrested and the weapons and ammunition seized. They will appear in court soon on charges of possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

Gauteng provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela called on anyone who owned an illegal, unlicensed or unwanted firearm and ammunition to hand it in at a police station before May, as there is currently an amnesty period for doing so.

 

Ten people were killed on Western Cape roads this weekend, while 27 people were arrested for drunk driving, the province’s traffic authorities reported on Sunday.

Half of those who died were pedestrians who were knocked down, according to Western Cape traffic chief Kenny Africa.

Other fatalities recorded include three drivers, one passenger and a person who fell off the back of an open top bakkie, in various incidents around the province.

When it came to drinking and driving, a total of 1 269 people were tested, with 27 arrested. One driver in Knysna was found to be six times over the legal limit in terms of alcohol consumption.

Speeding and reckless and negligent driving were also problems on the road this weekend.

Western Cape traffic officials issued 427 fines, totalling R713 000.

One person was caught travelling at 159km/h in a 120km/h zone in Brackenfell.

A 30-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Zinhle Muthwa, whose bruised body was found on the side of a KZN road on New Year’s morning.

Muthwa’s body was recovered at 09:55 on Wednesday at Ndaya Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, News24 previously reported. The 29-year-old had head injuries and multiple bruises.

Her parents positively identified her body on Thursday.

“On January 4, 2020, Umbumbulu detectives led by the station commander followed up information regarding the suspect involved in the murder,” said police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala on Sunday.

“A 30-year-old suspect was traced and arrested in the Umbumbulu area after an intensive investigation. A firearm suspected to be used in the commission of an offence was also confiscated by police.”