3 October 2007
Child rape, attempted murder, drug dealing, possession of stolen property
and possession of counterfeit goods â these are just some of the crimes for
which 20 alleged criminals have been arrested over the past few weeks through
Crime Line. The latest successes bring the total number of people arrested as a
result of anonymous tip-offs to Primedia to 237 and the total value of goods
seized to R14,8 million.
Information received via crime line's website led to the arrest of a man in
Krugersdorp West for the alleged rape of a ten year old little girl in
Claremont, Johannesburg. The victim is related to the suspect. It is alleged
that the child was sent to the suspect to give him cigarettes, but the man
indecently assaulted her after having raped her two years previously when she
was only eight years old. A medical examination has substantiated that a sexual
assault took place. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the
child, has already appeared in court and is expected to apply for bail shortly.
The South African Police Service thanks the anonymous informant for bringing
this heinous crime to our attention through Primedia.
In another incident in Gauteng, a man â with a history of domestic violence
and against whom a protection order had been obtained â was arrested for
attempted murder after having tried to shoot his former girlfriend. Fortunately
for her, even though he pulled the trigger of the firearm which was held
against her head five times, either the firearm misfired or he did not know how
to use it and she was not harmed. The man has appeared in court and the case is
continuing. In order to ensure the anonymity of the tipster, no further details
on this case can be provided at this stage.
As crimes against women and children enjoy top priority by the South African
Police Service, the arrest of these two alleged perpetrators for having
physically and emotionally brutalised two innocent victims must be welcomed by
all decent law-abiding South Africans.
Over the past two weeks, the police reacted to information supplied relating
to counterfeit goods, which resulted in the confiscation of:
* 2 000 counterfeit PC games,
* 1 781 counterfeit DVDs,
* 100 counterfeit music CDs,
* Eight Play Station 2 game controllers,
* R1,2 million worth of counterfeit clothing including fakes of the brands
Nike, Adidas, Puma, Levi's, Soviet and Billabong which were seized in
Rustenburg.
Four persons were arrested during the above operations and, besides the
clothing, the value of the goods seized amounted to R845 000. Six drug-dealing
cases were registered as a result of tip-offs, both in Gauteng and the Western
Cape, with 11 suspects being arrested and ecstasy, TIK, cocaine rocks and dagga
being seized as evidence. Congratulations to Detective Inspector Brett Clark of
the Johannesburg Organised Crime Unit who arrested two men for selling dagga to
school children on the East Rand, Gauteng, and confiscated over 60 kg of dagga
worth more than R60 000 in the process.
Stolen property recovered during weeks 15 and 16 of the Crime Line project
include nine cellular phones and 19 boxes of cigarette cartons worth R100 000.
Even the theft of water was reported in Polokwane in the Limpopo province. It
was alleged that a resident of a property in De Wet Drive, Bendor, Polokwane
had attached a T-connector to the water pipe in front of the meter, thus
allowing him to use water without paying for it. The information was relayed to
the Polokwane Municipality, was found to be positive and the man was issued
with a R500 fine.
Crime Line is working, thanks to the people of South Africa who have decided
to take back their communities and say no to crime and criminals. Report
criminal activity by sending a text message, with as much detail as possible,
to 32211 or log on to www.crimeline.co.za and follow the prompts.
Issued by: South African Police Service
3 October 2007
Source: South African Police Service (http://www.saps.gov.za)
