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BEAT
27 September, 2013
Alleged cable thief makes narrow escape
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Police urges community to keep proof of ownership Justin Steyn Police in Mookophong have informed The BEAT that many victims of theft are not keeping the proof of ownership of their valuable items. Warrant officer George Ledwaba said that victims of theft often approach the police claiming that stolen property recovered by the police belongs to them. “Complainants often approach us claiming that we have recovered some of their stolen property, unfortunately we cannot return these items without some sort of proof,” he said Ledwaba said that a till slip or invoice
with a corresponding serial number of the item in question will serve as valid proof of ownership. He added that the Mookophong police have noted a growing trend in the theft of flat screen televisions and said these items are just an example of items with high value that residents attempt to reclaim from the police with no proof of ownership. Ledwaba said that incidents of theft or housebreaking should be reported immediately as valuable items are often sold to buyers from neighbouring countries at low prices, making it hard for police to relocate them.
Bela Bela detectives make a breakthrough that some of the stolen items including beach chairs and hose pipes were recovered in Orchards and suspects were A tracing team of the Bela Bela police then detained on detectives led by Friday, 20 SeptemConstable Frans ber. According to Sekgobela made a According to the police, the police, the breakthrough in the hijacked truck was hijacked truck was arresting two coming from Macro suspects in concoming from Macro depot depot in Cape nection with a case in Cape Town... Town. The susof truck hijack. The pects were reincident happened manded to police custody when they in Pienaarsrivier and the suspects were appeared before the Bela Bela Magisarrested on Thursday, 19 September. trate’s Court on Monday, 23 September. Sekgobela said that the police received Sekgobela said that it was discovered information about the suspects hiding in through investigation that the suspects Suurman in Pretoria and went and were also wanted in Pienaarsrivier for investigate. He added that the suspects another case of truck hijacking. were found in a vehicle, which is believed The suspects are expected back in to be used when they commit the crimes. court on Tuesday, 1 October for formal Sekgobela said that the suspects were bail application. then questioned and the investigation proceeded to Orchards. He further said Lizzy Bapela
One of the drain pipes from where the alleged cable thief could have escaped from. Photo: Justin Steyn Justin Steyn In the early morning hours of Wednesday 18 September Bela Bela police were in pursuit of an alleged cable thief. It was reported that an unknown man took copper cables from the Waterfront Shopping Centre which was noticed by security guards on duty. The guards immediately gave chase, but the man fled into an underground tunnel nearby. Two men who witnessed the incident reported the matter to local police while the guards were searching for the suspect. “We just saw a man carrying copper cables running from the security and he crept into the tunnels and we then called
the police to assist in the matter” they said. Two police vans were seen parked in Marx Street next to the Bushveld centre where the officers tried to find the suspect from inside a sewage pipe nearby. The pipeline from which the police were trying to locate the suspect was too narrow for them to enter and it was suspected that the thief had already made his escape. Passers-by suggested a dog unit be called in to assist but never occurred. After an approximate three hour search the police returned to the station. At the time of going to press Bela-Bela police spokesperson, Glen Manamela, said that no arrests have been made and the matter is still under investigation. Any persons who can provide the police with information can contact them on 014 736 9700 or approach the station directly.
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South African economy on the road to recovery ‘In another indication of its diversity, the DTI through its industrial development cluster approved 70 film productions, including the recently released ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ and Monyetla Work-Readiness Programme, which trained 3,819 learners in the Business Process Services,...’ Lizzy Bapela The Director General of the Department of Trade and Industry (the DTI), Mr Lionel October said that the country’s economy is on the road to recovery. He highlighted the culture of “buy local” and the need to narrow the division between big business and township business as important components of efforts to build an inclusive South African economy. October said this while presenting the DTI’s annual report to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry in parliament on Friday, 20 September. He said that the good news for South Africans is that the country’s economy is recovering. October further said that it may still be too slow for the liking of some people and a full recovery may still take some time. He also said that indications are that the fundamentals that were put in place and the decisions that were taken when the recession and the Euro-zone crisis started biting are starting to bear fruit. He added that the country was on a slow road to recovery but it is continuing to face challenges. “The main challenge was the slow contribution to global growth, which was 1, 6 % in 2011 and the 1, 3 % in 2012 of the advanced economies. The problem for South Africa was that it still had a skewed reliance on the advanced economies for exports. The economic woes of countries making up this bloc
meant fewer export opportunities for South Africa,” said the DG. October has indicated that another big challenge centred on South Africa’s trade deficit is that there has been an improvement in exports, but this still lags behind the expansion in imports. He said that the emerging economies have performed far better at 6, 3 % and 5, 1 % over the past two years. He further said this provided clear proof of the astuteness of the DTI in increasing efforts to diversify South Africa’s trade and investment markets by turning to Africa, South-East Asia, the Middle East and South America. The department’ spokesperson Sidwell Medupe said that currently, the DTI is achieving its best successes in four key areas, namely the auto industry, clothing and textile industry, business process services and the film industry. He indicated that the Business Process Services Incentive Programme provided R1.3-billion to create an estimated 4 500 jobs over the next three years. “In another indication of its diversity, the DTI through its industrial development cluster approved 70 film productions, including the recently released ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ and Monyetla Work-Readiness Programme, which trained 3,819 learners in the Business Process Services,” said Medupe.