6 Desember 2013
Carletonville Herald
New gang causes chaos in Khutsong Cerise du Plooy
Even though it is less than a month after angry community members of Khutsong decided to give gangsters a taste of their own medicine when havoc ensued in the township, another gang has now decided to test the waters again. According to the police in Khutsong, the ‘Creatures,’ a rival gang of the Casanovas who were driven out of the township by community members, beat and burned six of their members to death on November 3. This gang has now started terrorising residents again. Six incidents were reported in one day, two men were assaulted severely, and four cases of malicious damage to property were reported. It also seems the gang is after young girls, possibly with the intention to rape, as in two instances, young girls were running away from them, trying to find help. On Sunday, December 1, the Creatures crawled out from wherever they have been hiding, and went on a spree to harass innocent community members. The spree started at around 01:00 at a tavern called Xhungus Brothers Place, a relatively peaceful, nonsense-free pub, according to community members. According to the Khutsong Police, the group of boys entered the pub and started dancing between the people. They then started throwing beer at people, causing havoc and a fight broke out. People were robbed of their cell phones, and one gang member allegedly stood in the pub swinging a panga around. When they had gotten what they wanted, the gang went outside. There they found a man who tried to run away when he saw them. They slashed his head open with their pangas. “The man fell to the ground and tried to get back up, but again they cut open his head with a panga,” said a police officer. The boys then damaged several vehicles outside, for no apparent reason, and ran away. 45 minutes later, a man who was in his house, heard a noise. The gang was
approaching and had thrown a bottle on the roof of his house. He peeped through the window to see what was happening, but the gang spotted him. They then tried to kick down his door. When this was unsuccessful, the gang damaged his vehicle parked outside, smashing the windows and denting the left side of the vehicle. Just 15 minutes later, this gang’s insatiable hunger for malice, power and violence just grew stronger. Two girls went running to the house of the complainant who wishes to remain anonymous. They were terrified and said they were being chased by the Creatures. The complainant took them into his house and the police were called. “The gang then kicked down the door and broke a window after damaging three vehicles parked outside the house,” the police officer told. The SAPS arrived at the scene very speedily, thus the gang members scattered and ran away. Another man suffered at the hands of the gang less than a hour after that. The victim was returning home from a tavern nearby when he accidently met up with the gang. The Creatures immediately started assaulting him, stabbing him, hitting him with pangas over the head, and stealing R 450 and his cell phone from him. The man had started running to a nearby house, after he managed to fight and knock out one of the gangsters. The community members started coming out of their homes at the sound of the commotion, found the gang member, and started taking revenge on him, as they had done with the gang members they had killed about a month ago. “The police got to the scene, but the community resisted, throwing stones at police vehicles.” Somehow, they could intervene, and the boy’s life was spared. The victim was taken to the Carletonville Hospital, very badly injured. The spree was not yet over. At 03:00, the Creatures ended off their havoc by gate-crashing a private get-together at a house in Extension 4. A boy who was at the party went outside and two girls
Two lose their lives
Cerise du Plooy
Carletonville police officers were called to two murder scenes this weekend. As has become the norm in Merafong, the murders involved illegal immigrants and zama-zamas (illegal miners) from Lesotho. At around 16:30 on Saturday, 30 November, a man was found in the foot path near the old concession store in Blyvooruitzicht. He had a gunshot to the upper body and police officers found one 9mm cartridge at the scene. After closer investigation, it was found that the deceased man, a citizen of Lesotho, left his home in Khutsong on Wednesday, 27
November. He never returned home after that. “It is clear, according to his clothing and the equipment found on him, that this incident was zama-zama related,” said Captain Jabulani Kundethe, Spokesperson of the Carletonville police. “The suspects are still unknown to the SAPS.” In another reported case at the Carletonville dumping site, at around 21:00 the previous day, another Basotho man died in a fight involving knives and pangas. “The deceased and some friends were at the dumping site where they live, when a group of six Basothos entered the site without permission and a fight started,” said Kundethe. “The
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The head of a community member who was innocently walking home when he was attacked by the Creatures. Insert: A victim of the seemingly resurfacing gang activity in Khutsong’s hand.
came running for safety, in the same fashion the other two girls had done earlier. People at the party let the girls into the house, and locked themselves up. The gang did, however, kick down the door and break a window to gain entry. Police had, however, been notified, and upon their arrival, the boys scattered again. Six criminal cases were opened by the Khutsong police for assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, malicious damage to property and robbery. Four suspects
men started attacking each other with knives and pangas, having locals run away to seek help from the security officers.” It was discovered that one of the men, a Basotho man known as Mohawo, who was in his thirties, had stayed behind to fight. “On arrival back at the scene, accompanied by security guards, the body of Mohawo was discovered,” Kundethe told. “He had several stab wounds to his torso, and the suspects fled the scene.” Detective Warrant Officer Soon Theron of the police in Carletonville is investigating this case. Anyone with information which may help the police make arrests, is strongly urged to call Theron at 082 854 1017.
have been arrested, and Detective Constable Jabulani Ngobeni continues to investigate these cases. It is crucial that any member of the public with regards to the members of this gang, call Ngobeni at 083 963 6502.