Thieves raided a holiday cottage outside Port Alfred while the occupants were asleep in the early hours of Friday morning – but their enjoyment of their haul was short-lived.

Three hours of tracking led to the arrest of five suspects and the recovery of the stolen property, Eastern Cape police said in statement. They allegedly also had abalone in their possession.

The suspects, between the ages of 28 and 39, will face charges of theft, possession of abalone without a permit and possession of undersized abalone.

Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said the suspects took various items from the cottage including fishing equipment, a wetsuit and cellphones.

“The local farm security was alerted and started to track the suspects. Members of the SAPS K9 and local SAPS were also mobilised,” said Govender.

A local farm security officer spotted items of clothing drying in the dense bush. Other items which resembled the stolen items were also found, as well as abalone.

“The unsuspecting suspects, who were ‘resting’, were alarmed when they were caught out,” said Govender.

“All the stolen items, with the exception of the cellphones, were recovered, and 27 abalone were seized.”

Then, “during the preliminary investigation and interviewing of the suspects, the cellphones were found wrapped in plastic, buried in the sand”.

Govender said the stolen items were returned to an “ecstatic” holidaymaker.

of Toleni and Sawutana near Butterworth are picking up the pieces after a storm ripped through their villages on Monday afternoon, destroying at least 100 homes and leaving scores of villagers without shelter. Continue reading Sudden storm rips up 100 homes in Eastern Cape →

Nic Dlamini, a South African cyclist, is receiving medical assessment after being manhandled at the Table Mountain National Park on Friday.

His team, NTT Pro Cycling, said it was aware of a video in which one of its riders, Dlamini, was involved in an incident in Cape Town.

“He’s currently undergoing medical assessment after which we’ll be able to provide a full update on what transpired,” the team said on Twitter.

In the video, shared on social media, a number of rangers are seen attempting to apprehend Dlamini. He is forced into the back of a bakkie.

One of the rangers is seen trying to stop the person taking the video from doing so.

While the extent of any injury is as yet unconfirmed, Club100 Cycling Cape Town said in a statement it “strongly condemns the assault by Sanparks officials on Pro-rider Nic Dlamini. This is no way to treat anybody. We hope that the full might of the law prevails and these individuals who in the process broke his arm are dealt with.”

SANParks in the Western Cape said on Friday afternoon it was gathering information about the incident and would release a statement later.

A man and his three year-old daughter have been killed in a shake fire in the Ramaphosa Informal Settlement in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni. The structure was engulfed in the early hours of Thursday.

‘Father started the fire intentionally‘

The man is believed to have intentionally started the fire with his three children inside the home – the other two managed escape with minimal injuries.

The children – a boy (aged seven) and girl (aged five) reportedly fled prior to the fire and screamed for help, prompting a neighbour to intervene. The father then locked himself and his child before setting the shack alight.

Firefighters from the City of Ekurhuleni’s emergency services unit rushed to the scene after receiving a phone call about the incident. On arrival, they found the one-roomed shack in flames and neighbours trying to extinguish the fire using buckets of water. The fighter fighters then took action and the blaze was soon doused.

“Frantically, neighbours tried to open the door to save both from the horror of fire, but it was too little too late when the objective was met”, Ntladi said.

Police investigating the incident

The South African Police Services (SAPS) officers received the crime scene from firefighters and started with their investigations and the removal of the bodies to an appropriate Pathological facility.

he children were then transported by ambulance to Bertha Gxowa hospital in Germiston for medical and psychological treatment.  It is alleged that the mother wasn’t home at the time on the incident.

Meanwhile, the summer season sees a spike in informal settlement fires. At least five people have been killed in separate shack fires in Cape Town, on Christmas Day.

Continue reading Left planning your Christmas feast to the last minute? We’ve done it for you! →