Three young Cape Town men have been shot dead in two separate killings in the past 24 hours.

Three young Cape Town men have been shot dead in two separate killings in the past 24 hours.

At about 3.50pm on Thursday, Mitchells Plain police officers were called to a petrol station on the corner of AZ Berman Drive and Charlie Street in Beacon Valley, Mitchells Plain.

“Upon arrival they found the 27-year-old victim lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to his neck and several gunshot wounds to his left leg,” police spokesman FC van Wyk said.

It appears the man had been chased before being shot several times, and that his killers fled on foot. “The victim died on the scene due to the extent of his injuries,” Van Wyk said.

About six hours later, police were called to Freedom Park, several kilometres away, also in Mitchells Plain, and found two dead youths lying in the street - metres apart from each other.

“Both victims (had) gunshot wounds to their heads,” Van Wyk said.

“The 17-year-old victim died on the scene due to the extent of his injuries and the 16-year-old was transported to hospital where he died due to the extent of his injuries.”

Police are investigating the murders.

Cape Argus

Police have extended their search for two Belhar boys who were last seen the day Klopse descended on the city centre.

Police have extended their search for two Belhar boys who went missing on Saturday, possibly on their way to see the Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade in the city centre.

The main areas being searched are Belhar, Tygervalley, Bellville, the CBD and Athlone.

Junaid Baker, 10,and Justin Lee Jacobs, 12, were last seen together near Justin’s home on Saturday morning, the day Klopse from around Cape Town descended on the city centre.

Justin’s mother, Cynthia Jacobs, suspects the pair may have been drawn into the excitement of Klopse troops who were travelling from Belhar to the city.

She says Justin went missing for two days last year at the same time because he travelled with the Klopse to view the Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade.

On Wednesday, the boys’ families got news that vagrants in Bellville town centre had seen the boys.

The families spent most of yesterday handing out flyers there.

“Many people said that they had seen the boys but no one could say where they were,” said Jacobs. “We are worried, because this has been a week now. What are they eating? Where are they sleeping?”

Junaide, too, has stayed away from home overnight on one or two occasions, said his grandmother Bahia Lubbe.

“But this is not normal,” she said. “A 10-year-old boy cannot look after (himself) for such a long time. That has got us very worried because we do not know if they are being held against their will.

“But, it is also possible that they are now too scared to come home because they are worried that they’ll be in trouble for having caused so much stress.”

Police have asked anyone who has seen the boys to contact Warrant Officer Coetzee at 021 953 8100 or 072 214 7439.

Junaid was wearing a blue sweater with stripes, cream three-quarter pants and white takkies. Justin was wearing blue denim shoes, blue jeans and a blue golf shirt.

Cape Argus

If you were caught with booze these holidays, it could be sitting in a municipal storage unit, waiting for you to claim it.

If you were caught with booze on the beach or elsewhere these holidays, it could be sitting in a municipal storage unit, waiting for you to claim it.

The municipality confiscated more than 8 000 bottles of liquor from city beaches and public spaces since December 1. These total more than 6 000 litres of liquor.

Beers and ciders accounted for most of these confiscations.

For the past month and a half, the city’s Liquor Enforcement Unit focused on beaches in light of the dangers of drinking and swimming.

Officers issued 331 spot fines for alcohol contraventions on the beaches, totalling R165 500.

The tally is already nearly 300 bottles more than the 2012/2013 festive season.

JP Smith, mayoral committee member for safety and security, said: “We know that many drowning incidents are caused by excessive alcohol consumption and we are determined to use all resources at our disposal to prevent such tragedies... We have warned the public on numerous occasions that it is an offence to bring alcohol into public spaces, yet many still continue to do so.

“However, we will not be deterred and the successes of this season will simply strengthen our resolve to ensure the safety of our beachgoers and visitors.”

The confiscated liquor is taken to the municipality’s storage facility in Ndabeni.

You can reclaim confiscated booze, but it is going to cost you.

There is a release fee of R1 140 and you need to produce proof of payment of your spot fine.

However, no one has requested to have their booze returned yet.

After three months, it will all be destroyed.

In December, officers from the Liquor Enforcement Unit and police also issued 66 spot fines to night clubs and shebeens for various contraventions of by-laws.

The unit also permanently closed five shebeens in Kensington, Macassar and Kalkfontein in Kuils River.

Faced with the threat of hefty fines of between R5 000 and R20 000, including suspended prison terms for non-compliance, the owners of these establishments opted to shut down.

On the roads, Cape Town Traffic and Metro Police officers arrested 272 motorists for driving under the influence of alcohol between December 14 and January 8.

“The public also has a responsibility to help make our city a safer place by changing their behaviour and realising the danger they are posing to themselves and others by over- indulging,” added Smith.

- Saturday Argus

Western Cape police are investigating the murder of a month-old baby boy in Bredasdorp.

Bredasdorp - Western Cape police are investigating the murder of a month-old baby boy in Bredasdorp, the Sunday Times reported.

The baby's mother, aged 15, and father, 17, claimed their son's death on the night of December 15 was an accident.

Police changed the case to murder after the child's post mortem revealed that besides the head injury, the baby had marks on his face. The father told the paper the baby bumped his head against the wall while lying on a bed with his mother.

Paramedics who were called to the scene were unable to revive the child. The paper could not locate the mother for comment.

Police told the paper that when they arrived at the house on the night of the death, several of the people there were drunk. No arrests had been made.

Bredasdorp made headline last year when 17-year-old Anene Booysen died after being raped and disembowelled. She died at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town on Saturday, February 2. Her attacker, Johannes Kana was sentenced to two life terms for the crime. -Sapa

Woman being treated for Congo fever in Somerset West is an isolated case.

Cape Town - The woman being treated for Congo fever at the Mediclinic Vergelen in Somerset West, Western Cape, is an isolated case, hospital officials said on Sunday.

“The woman is in isolation and there are no other cases of the fever at the clinic at this time,” Mediclinic Vergelen regional marketing manager Nadia Padayachi said.

The 39-year-old contracted the fever from a multi-coloured tick. She was in a serious but stable condition after she was admitted to the hospital over a week ago.

People with Congo fever suffer from flu-like symptoms and haemorrhaging.

According to the World Health Organisation Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever is primarily transmitted to people from ticks and livestock animals. Human-to-human transmission can occur from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected persons. There is no vaccine available for either people or animals. -Sapa

Mayor says the cost of repairs to the flood-hit town will run into millions of rands.

Laingsburg mayor Wilhelm Theron says the cost of repairs and reconstruction to affected areas in the small town will run into millions of rand.

The little town in the Great Karoo has been battered by torrential rains, thunderstorms and hail since Tuesday. By Friday, the bad weather had abated and a sense of panic – prompted by fears that the situation could turn into a repeat of the 1981 flood that killed 104 people – had died down.

Theron said that,

while a damage assessment was under way and should be completed by tomorrow, the town was “doing much better”.

He said that no further rescues were were needed yesterday. But roads, fences, power lines and cables would all need to be repaired.

In a statement, Disaster Management said that damage to the town’s infrastructure included a sewerage plant that had needed to be repaired as well as a water pipeline.

Water was being provided by tankers to affected communities.

No health challenges had resulted from the flooding.

The heavy rains had affected the Central Karoo, Cape Winelands and Overberg regions, among others.

“Damage to agricultural land, crop losses, disruption to harvesting and hail was experienced, of which the extent still needs to be determined,” said Disaster Management officials. The area would undergo assessments in the coming weeks to determine whether a “disaster declaration” could be made.

The Laingsburg Municipality has scheduled a local disaster management advisory forum on January 16 to reflect on the flooding and revise the municipal contingency plan.

“Although the municipality is able to handle most of the challenges, we’re unable to restore the entire infrastructure and put preventive measures in place and mitigate the effects of future floods in Laingsburg.

“Financial aid is needed to build resilience and enable the municipality to limit the effects of flooding in our area because it can’t be prevented,” it said.

Weekend Argus

New York times has placed city above Los Angeles as number one place to visit this year.

Cape Town has been named the number one place to visit this year by the New York Times, the city said on Sunday.

Cape Town secured the top spot ahead of Los Angeles, the Vatican and the Seychelles in American newspaper's list of 52

places to visit in 2014, said the city in a statement.

Its natural beauty, diversity of its people and the role it played in the victory of democracy were attributed to making the city a preferred destination for people from around the world.

“The economic injection that comes with a thriving tourist industry is crucial if much needed jobs are to be created for the residents of Cape Town,” the city said.

According to the New York Times, Cape Town was described as a place to meditate on freedom and the creative life that followed. -Sapa

One person was killed and 66 others injured when an open back truck collided with a car, ER24 paramedics said.

Cape Town - One person was killed and 66 others injured when an open back truck collided with a car, causing the truck to roll on the N7 near Morningstar in Cape Town on Sunday afternoon, paramedics said.

The vast majority of those injured were thrown from the back of the truck when it rolled, said ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring.

“ER24 paramedics, along with other services, immediately began treating the patients found on scene.”

Air-medical support was required for a person critically injured, as they needed urgent evacuation.

ER24 and other emergency services transported various patients from the scene to the closest appropriate facilities, said Meiring.

The accident occurred at around 4.45pm, with its cause unknown.

Police were investigating. - Sapa

A hiker survived an ordeal after fleeing from men who threatened to take his baby if he did not hand over his valuables.

Cape Town - A Cape Town hiker who was on a walk with his eight-month-old daughter survived a terrifying ordeal after fleeing from two assailants who threatened to take his child if he did not hand over his valuables.

Conrad Zygmont, a psychology professor at Helderberg College in Somerset West, has spoken out to warn other hikers a week after his traumatic experience.

“I have two daughters, aged three-and-a-half and eight months, and I always take them for walks – either on Miller’s Trail, in Gordon’s Bay, or at Gantouw Pass,” he said.

“My wife was taking a nap with my eldest daughter on Saturday afternoon, so I decided to take a walk with my youngest,” he said.

“I parked my car, and took my daughter in her stroller, parallel to the railway line for a while. I started heading back at about 5pm and I saw these two guys heading on the trail towards me. Didn’t think much of it, thought they may be walking home. I do this trail very, very often and I’ve never seen anyone on it.

“One of the men reached behind his back, to something tucked into his belt, when they were just a few metres away, and I started praying ‘whatever happens, just protect us’.

“One of them rushed to me and the other guy started searching the pram. They demanded: ‘Where’s your phone, your wallet, your keys’,” Zygmont said.

“I said my wallet was in my car, that they could take everything, so long as they gave me my baby. But he wouldn’t let me come closer. One said: ‘Now we’ve got your baby so you’re going to do whatever we tell you.’”

He had not told them about his phone, which was in a pocket in his baby’s pram – as he knew he would need it to urgently call for help if they took his baby.

“But then they found my phone. They were very angry – they said I’d been lying to them,” he said.

In that moment, he had a choice.

“I knew I couldn’t let them separate me and my baby, so I rushed to the pram and picked up my baby and ran,” he said.

He ran in the opposite direction to his car, which was about 1.5km away, “so that they’d have to choose between me and my car”.

“After about 100m, I looked over my shoulder and saw they were arguing – pointing at me, and then my car, and they then set off for my car.”

Zygmont left the path and began working his way back towards the N2 and Sir Lowry’s Pass, but only after he had first climbed to higher ground so he could see the path, in case the pair returned.

“Eventually I got to the N2 and saw my car was gone.”

He managed to flag down a motorist, his baby still in his arms, and used their phone to call his wife and urge her to leave home and wait at their neighbours’ for safety, in case they found his address.

Police found his car the next morning in Pineview, a suburb in Grabouw.

“It was completely stripped, just a shell. I couldn’t believe how fast they’d worked,” said Zygmont.

About his terrifying ordeal, he said: “I’ve never hiked on Table Mountain, where there have been muggings. Out where I walk, people have only ever asked me about the danger of baboons. But I know baboons – when you hike a lot you learn that their behaviour is predictable.

“But humans are not predictable. You just don’t know what they’re going to do. The reality is that walking alone in isolated areas makes you vulnerable,” he said.

Gantouw Pass is just east of Sir Lowry’s Pass and is the site of the famous Trekkers’ wagon tracks over the Hottentots’ Holland mountains, which date back hundreds of years. Gantouw refers to the eland, which used the pass to migrate prior to the Settlers’ arrival.

Cape Argus

A dad has described how he coolly talked a gunman, who held his family hostage in their home, into handing over his weapon.

Cape Town - A Mitchells Plain father coolly talked a gunman, who was holding him and his family hostage in their home, into handing over his weapon.

Advising the gunman, who was evading police, to hide under the sink, Wayne Hendricks, 43, of Eastridge, cleverly got word to police that the man they were looking for was in his home.

The gunman was then arrested.

“He was supposed to hold us hostage, but we held him hostage,” Hendricks said on Sunday.

“You could see he’s like a killer. His eyes were just so,” he said, opening his eyes wide.

Hendricks, his wife, children and four young relatives, aged one to four years, were held hostage for more than an hour. His wife was so traumatised she needed medical treatment.

Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said early on Sunday the suspect, about 30, had sped away from a vehicle check point in Khayelitsha with Metro police in pursuit.

The man drove the Hyundai into a ditch along Swartklip Road and abandoned it. He shot at police as he ran into the Hendricks home and held the family hostage.

It was later discovered the Hyundai belonged to a Gugulethu resident who was killed at his home earlier on Sunday.

The suspect is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

Recounting the drama, Hendricks said on Sunday he heard shooting then glass breaking. The gunman had broken a window at the back of his home to try and get in.

He went outside and spotted the man.

He ran back in, but the gunman came at him from the opposite direction and threatened him with a gun.

“He said: ‘Open the door now.’ I saw the gun. He came in. He told me to keep quiet.”

Hendricks said he tried to keep the gunman, who appeared slightly intoxicated, calm in his small home.

“I was calming him from outside already. When he cocked the gun above me I said: ‘We’ll hide you away’.”

Four children were asleep in the house and Hendricks made sure they were calm when they woke up because of the commotion.

He said the gunman had asked for clothes, to try and fool the police looking for him. Hendricks handed him some of his son’s clothing.

Hendricks then started coaxing the gunman into handing over the firearm.

“I was playing with his brain. I told him I’ll hide the gun and I’ll hide you… He didn’t want to give over the gun.”

Hendricks told the gunman that he would hide the weapon so police could not find it and link it to him.

Eventually the gunman handed over the weapon and Hendricks hid it in the ceiling, where the gunman also wanted to hide.

Hendricks said he kept things calm by making a cup of tea as the gunman sat on the couch.

When he realised police officers were outside, he told the gunman the situation.

Hendricks got the gunman to agree to hide in a cavity under the kitchen sink which was covered by a white board.

Once the gunman was inside, Hendricks managed to get outside and tell a neighbour the gunman was in his home.

Meanwhile, he got his family out of the house.

Police were told and officers arrested the man and retrieved the firearm.

Hendricks said throughout the ordeal his main aim was to keep his family and all the children safe.

He realised he would have to outwit the gunman.

“I had to keep my children safe. I turned the situation around. I had to,” a modest Hendricks explained.

caryn.dolley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

Linefish hawkers and crew have used the recent outrage over fishing rights allocations to mobilise

Cape Town - Linefish hawkers and crew have used the recent outrage over fishing rights allocations to mobilise.

Last week, a new organisation – the Traditional Khoisan Marine Hawkers Association (TKMHA) – was formed to lobby for a better deal for hawkers in the fishing sector.

The association has been welcomed by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The department is committed to providing infrastructure, support and training for hawkers – a key towards bringing about “transformation” in the sector, according to deputy director-general Desmond Stevens.

Stevens said a formal hawkers’ association was a step toward bringing the department and hawkers into closer and more regular contact.

On New Year’s Eve the majority of linefishing rights holders found their rights to carry on operations into the new year had not been granted.

Their representative, the SA Commercial Linefish Association (Sacla), encouraged hawkers and crew to show solidarity with the rights holders.

Rights holders generally own the boats on which crew members are employed and on which fish hawkers are reliant for catches to sell.

The refusal of around 180 rights for established rights holders, effective from January 1, had the collateral effect of leaving hundreds of crew and hawkers without an income.

“As a result we were willing to rally behind the rights holders, because our livelihoods were lost along with theirs,” explains Faldie Samuels, chairman of the TKMHA.

But the hawkers’ association fell out with rights holders after Sacla chairman Wally Croombe accused them of having “gatecrashed” a meeting to resolve the rights allocation impasse with the department last week.

An angry backlash from Samuels saw him grab the microphone at a joint rights holder, hawker and crew meeting at the Oceana Club in Granger Bay last week. In a later interview with the Cape Argus, he accused Croombe of wanting to see a continuation of the status quo in which crew and hawkers were seen as nothing but “boys and servants” to the “masters” (that is, rights holders).

“Let me tell you how the linefishing industry works,” Samuels said. “Crew do all the work, yet 50 percent of the income from the catch goes to the boat owner (rights holder). If you make R20 000 off a catch, R10 000 goes to the boat holder and R10 000 gets distributed among the 10 crew members. From that money the crew have to buy bait and fuel for the next fishing trip. It is ridiculously unfair.”

Croombe said hawkers and rights holders had always had a tense relationship and that the meeting’s getting rowdy was not the first incident. “At the end of the day we have to work together because we need each other. I agree that there needs to be a representative organisation for hawkers, but they need to be constructive in partnering and communicating with the rights holders. There is no animosity from our side.”

Stevens agreed that this “institutionalised inequality” was in desperate need of transformation. He said the allocation of 100 rights to new entrants was underpinned, in part, by a transformation agenda – one which would see formerly disadvantaged stakeholders in the fishing industry gain a bigger share in the revenue.

The TKMHA emphasises the generational heritage of the fishing sector, with its members claiming their great-grandfathers were fishermen. It also claims the ancestry of the Khoisan people, who were the first people to fish off the Western Cape’s coast.

“It is time that we are finally allowed to enjoy the resources of the ocean that have been denied to us through colonialism, apartheid and ongoing inequality,” Samuels said.

Stevens stressed there was “space enough” for former rights holders in the transformation towards a new and more equal dispensation. He stressed the importance of traditional rights holders, crew and hawkers working together towards realising this goal.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Jerome "Donkie" Booysen has accused the police of stealing R7 000 from him and damaging one of his properties during a raid.

Cape Town - Alleged Sexy Boys gang boss Jerome “Donkie” Booysen has accused the police of stealing thousands of rand and damaging one of his five properties when they raided them recently.

According to Booysen, police visited three of his properties in Glenhaven and two in Belhar, including one with a separate entrance he rents out as student accommodation.

Booysen said on Sunday police had entered his premises without permission and forced open the front door. He said he had surveillance footage to prove it. He claims they broke a lock at one of the houses and that about R7 000 was missing following the raids. There had been “reasonable damage” done to one of his houses.

Booysen’s sister’s house was raided on Tuesday and she and her husband were arrested after police found drugs on the premises.

His brother Colin Booysen’s house was raided on Thursday.

Booysen said he had registered complaints of malicious damage to property and theft at the Belhar and Bellville South police stations. But police at the Belhar station say they have no record of Booysen having laid any charges.

Provincial police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that police had visited the Booysen residences on Friday. He said officers wanted to raid the properties, but no one was home when they arrived.

Van Wyk said nothing was confiscated from the properties.

He could not confirm whether Colin Booysen’s house had been raided on Thursday.

Van Wyk said the raids at Booysen’s properties were part of routine searches.

Booysen said: “I don’t know what they wanted or what they were looking for.

“I’ve got the video footage.”

He said while he understood the officers were doing their jobs, they should have approached him or waited for someone to be at home to let them in.

“I wouldn’t have a problem letting them in, I’ve got nothing to hide… I understand that they’re doing their work, but they must do it lawfully.”

On Tuesday, Booysen’s sister Taressa Small, her husband Leon Small – who is alleged to be in the ranks of the Sexy Boys gang – and another relative, Jonathan Solomons, were arrested at the Smalls house in Kronkel Road, Boston, near Bellville.

On Thursday, she was released on R20 000 bail after appearing in court, but her husband and Solomons are still behind bars.

The State asked the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Thursday that Leon Small and Solomons remain in custody until it had been established whether there were any outstanding cases against them.

According to the charge sheet, the Smalls have been married for 20 years and have four children.

A 15-year-old boy was also arrested, but was released the same night. He is to face charges when he appears in court with his parents next week.

Police operations resulted in tik and mandrax with a street value of R800 000 being confiscated at Small’s house.

Police seized 2.5kg of tik, 583 mandrax tablets, scales and R75 000 in cash.

A firearm, the licence for which had expired, and ammunition were also found at the house.

The raid was conducted by the Mitchells Plain organised crime unit.

natasha.prince@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Western Cape politicians are in talks to increase the number of seats in the legislature. The added MPLs could cost the public R13.7m more.

Cape Town - Western Cape politicians are in behind-the-scenes talks to increase the number of seats in the legislature – to better represent the province’s growing population.

The added MPLs could cost the public R13.7 million more than the R33.5m it is paying for 42 members.

An ordinary MPL can earn up to R860 787 a year, while a Speaker, committee chairpersons and whips can earn more than R1m.

Parties want the number of members from all parties to be increased by a maximum of 16. This would increase the number to 58.

Leader of the opposition Lynne Brown said the DA and ANC had been in “informal discussions” since October with the aim of amending the Western Cape constitution and increasing the number of MPLs before this year’s general elections.

Should the proposal be adopted, it would mean that all political parties would be allocated more seats in proportion to the number of votes they won.

The DA’s provincial deputy chairman, Theuns Botha, confirmed that the party approached the ANC last year about increasing the number of MPLs.

The need for more members arose out of the population growth in the Western Cape, Botha said. “The census showed the number of Western Cape residents grew from 4.2 million to 5.8m.”

The province’s constitution allocated one seat for every 100 000 residents.

“This would mean we should have 58 MPLs... That is maybe too much, so we may increase it to 50 or 52 members, but only if we have consensus from other parties.”

Botha said the plan was part of a series of amendments to the provincial constitution that the DA wanted to get through the legislature before this year’s elections.

“We need two-thirds support in the legislature to change the province’s constitution. We will do it only if we have agreement from the main opposition,” he said.

Said Brown: “They were supposed to come back to us with a more concrete proposal by November, but we were all so busy.”

Brown said a decision for the ANC to support such a move could not be made only by its MPLs. The ANC’s national executive committee would have to discuss it as the party was thinking of reducing the number of provinces.

The DA might have to lobby national leaders and other provinces for support.

cobus.coetzee@inl.co.za

Cape Times

“He requested R200 000 in an SMS. It is not like him to send SMSes.”

Cape Town - A Barrydale farmer has been missing for more than a week. Andrew Whittingdale, 56, owner of the Makouvlei olive farm, was last seen on January 4 by his family and some farmworkers.

His brother, Richard, said he had gone missing at about 4pm on the R62 road that passes through Montague, Ladismith and Joubertina.

A hitchhiker and some of his farmworkers saw him getting into a white BMW with two men.

“Some of his workers were working on the roof of someone’s house and they, too, saw him getting into the car,” Richard Whittingdale said. “They did not worry about it though because they thought it was some of his friends because he got into the car.”

He said he suspected that Andrew had been forced to send him an SMS while in the car. “He requested R200 000 in an SMS. It is not like him to send SMSes. When he asks for money, he normally calls his (business) partner.

“I think he was forced to send that SMS because… (His partner, Desmond) Fernandes was in Brazil at the time and did not respond,” Richard said.

Richard Whittingdale said family and friends had awaited Andrew’s arrival at a braai they had on Friday, January 3.

“I got worried about him because we heard nothing from him and his cellphone was switched off. On Sunday we went to the police,” he said.

Whittingdale said the police had established that on Saturday at 9am in Montagu, money was withdrawn from his brother’s bank account.

“There was R3 000 in the account. Later about R600 was left. I am also trying to get the cellphone records. Maybe that can help,” he said.

Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said a police search continued.

“The investigation is at a sensitive stage, therefore we cannot disclose further information,” he said.

* If you have any information, please contact the Ladismith police at 028 551 8100, Crime Stop at 08600 10111, or SMS Crime Line at 32211. Whittingdale can also be contacted at 084 793 013.

Cape Argus

A 42-year-old Nigerian man was arrested at Cape Town International Airport with alleged stolen goods worth R550 000.

Cape Town - A 42-year-old Nigerian man appeared in the Bellville Magistrate's Court on Monday for alleged possession of stolen goods, Western Cape police said.

He was arrested at the Cape Town International Airport on Sunday, said spokesman Elvis Mahote.

Police seized seven laptops, 64 digital cameras, six video cameras, 256 cellphones, 140 men and women's watches, and seven car radios worth an estimated R550 000, he said.

Mahote said the man's luggage was searched after he was profiled at the domestic departures hall by the anti-smuggling team.

He said one of the items seized had been linked to a theft case. The others were still under investigation.

Sapa

Two Belhar boys who went missing last weekend were found by police at a youth centre in Salt River.

Cape Town - The two Belhar boys who went missing last weekend were found by police at a youth centre in Salt River on Friday.

Police launched a citywide search for Junaid Baker, 10, and Justin Lee Jacobs, 12, after the pair went missing on Saturday afternoon two weeks ago.

It was initially suspected that the pair had followed a Klopse troop from Belhar to Cape Town to view the Tweede Nuwe Jaar parade in the city centre. Police have, however, now established that the boys had gone to Bellville to beg and then got on a train to Cape Town.

Dessie Rechner, of the Pink Ladies organisation, which was involved in the search, said the boys had a history of being “street smart”, that they were capable of looking after themselves on the street and that they were not being held against their will.

Junaid’s grandmother, Bahia Lubbe, said that the children were unharmed when they returned home.

Police in Cape Town had picked the boys up and handed them over to staff at a centre for street children.

Here, they apparently lied to the staff, saying that they were homeless orphans.

“For us this is a case simply of boys being naughty,” said Warrant Officer Renier Coetzee, who led the search.

“It was a very difficult week, and all of us who were involved with the search are immensely relieved that the boys were unharmed.

“They are both schoolgoing and seem quite intelligent. They will return to class with the start of the new school year.”

Cape Argus

A 22-year-old man, allegedly a member of the Rude Boys, was shot multiple times and died where he fell in Valhalla Park.

CApe Town - Running gang battles in the Bishop Lavis area claimed another life on Monday morning.

A 22-year-old man, allegedly a member of the Rude Boys, was shot multiple times and died where he fell in Thomas Street, Valhalla Park, at about 2am.

Bystanders believed they knew who the victim was but police had not released his name by mid-morning. When investigators at the scene turned over the body, a woman in the crowd that had gathered started weeping uncontrollably.

Faisal Abrams, cluster chairman for the Community Policing Forum in the area, said that such shootings had escalated in frequency lately.

A younger generation of gangsters was coming through the ranks and breaking with the strict “rules” and “discipline” which regulated gang assassinations in the past, as they vied for power and control of drug-dealing turf.

This meant that rival members of the same gangs were increasingly likely to resort to violence to settle differences, Abrams said.

“These shootings are sporadic, unscrupulous and virtually happening on a daily basis.

“We are seeing the emergence of a new breed of gangster. People with no affiliation to the gangs fear for their lives, because there are many instances of people getting caught in the crossfire.

“I have friends contacting me, telling me that they no longer sleep on beds. They sleep on mattresses on the floor to avoid stray bullets.”

Abrams also accused the police of not having the “political will” to deal with the problem, adding that communities were being “left to their own devices”.

At the time of publication, police spokesmen had not been able to source further details of the latest shooting. It was unclear whether an arrest had been made.

daneel.knoetze@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

Back-to-school time brings home to parents the harsh reality of having to find funds for their children's education.

Cape Town - Back-to-school time brings home to parents the harsh reality of having to recover from festive season spending to fork out the funds for the costs of their children’s education.

Public schools start on Wednesday.

For Sibongile Bopape, a mother in Gugulethu, the start of this school year has been especially tough, because all three of her children are going to new schools.

The youngest, Koketso, is off to Grade R at Surrey Primary School in Athlone, while her sister Ezam starts Grade 1. The oldest, Unam, is starting Grade 8 at Cape Town High.

On a new school parent’s shopping list are uniforms, stationery and textbooks – which can come at a hefty cost. While these can be crossed off the list at the beginning of the year, school fees and transport costs are a year-long expense.

Unam’s taxi to town costs R13. That amounts to R26 a day, and R130 a week.

“We’re still trying to figure out what we’re going to do for transport,” Bopape said. “The taxi is the safest; it drops her right at school. We are just working out if the bus might be a cheaper option.”

The two younger girls will be part of a lift club with a private driver who will take them to school. Their transport amounts to R900 a month – R450 each.

Stationery shopping for Bopape’s Grade 8 and Grade 1 daughters was not finished yesterday, and had already amounted to R1 000. For Grade R, the school makes up a stationery pack that costs R75.

Textbooks must still be bought, but that can be done at the schools’ second-hand shops, which will be open during term time.

There was a levy just to register the girls at their new schools, which tallied to R2 000 for all three.

“It is so much pressure,” Bopape said. “I can’t educate myself, because I must sacrifice for my kids.”

For years, she has wanted to study for a diploma in human resources through Unisa. She told herself this year would be her chance – but mounting school expenses have crushed that possibility.

“I believe that most mothers go through the same thing. They put their kids before themselves.”

She works at UCT, and no further qualifications means she cannot advance in her job.

“No increase next year for me,” she said. “I am stagnant in my job.”

Bopape said that if she and her husband, Antonio, hadn’t planned in advance for school expenses, it would have been a “disaster”.

“We no longer celebrate Christmas,” she said. “We’ve tried to be stingy this year. Now we just pray for more benefits from the schools.”

Meanwhile, the Western Cape Education Department has been preparing for the new school year.

Spokeswoman Bronagh Casey said 130 schools had received a “maintenance makeover” during the holiday period, and three schools had each received a new building.

Volunteer teams had been cleaning up school premises, making sure that “windows and doors have been mended and that ablution and playground facilities are spick and span”.

Any parents who have not yet enrolled their children in a school should contact their local school immediately or call the department on 086 192 3322.

chelsea.geach@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

The provincial planning MEC has taken two decisions likely to affect the long-term development of greater Cape Town.

Cape Town - The controversial proposal to develop the Philippi Horticultural Area – the rich agricultural area of the Cape Flats known as the city’s “bread-basket” – has been turned down by provincial Planning MEC Anton Bredell.

But Bredell has given the nod to a change in the city’s structure plan that could pave the way for development of the equally controversial Wescape multibillion-rand “self-sustaining mini-city” proposal north of Blaauwberg.

His decision on Philippi will probably stall a complaint by the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, sent just last week, to investigate the alleged “irrational, illegal and unconstitu-tional behaviour” of mayor Patricia de Lille and her mayoral committee.

This was because the council agreed in November 2012 to shelve an application for the 6 000-unit, mixed-use development in Philippi until it had considered the findings of an independent food system study of the metro’s food networks.

But in May last year the mayoral committee had a change of heart and resolved that, given the “massive demand for housing and increased burden of delivery”, a review of the urban edge – a statutory planning tool designed to protect rural land from urban creep – needed to be undertaken “with great urgency”.

Both development proposals – the Philippi and Wescape – were supported by the city’s DA political leadership but drew major flak from residents, ratepayers and non-government groups.

They were cited as examples of how the DA administration was allegedly wooing development at the expense of the environment, and centralising land-use planning approvals while reducing the opportunity for public participation.

The Philippi decision was welcomed as “good news” by the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance and as “fantastic” by the Save the Philippi Horticultural Area group.

The response to the Wescape decision was muted, with alliance chairman Len Swimmer saying they were not so concerned about it as it was opposed by all the city officials. They did not believe this proposal – which is only aimed at post-2020 – would become reality.

“While we don’t agree with the Wescape development, we’d rather accept this than have the Philippi Horticultural Area destroyed,” he said.

“We support the city’s officials and the UCT reports (by planning experts) that the Wescape development will be a burden to the Cape Town taxpayers. The enormous costs and strain in infrastructure make this development a pipe dream.

Nazeer Sonday, secretary of the Schaapkraal Civic and Environmental Association and spokesman for the Save the Philippi Horticultural Area, described Bredell’s decision as “a victory for the people of Cape Town who have spoken out against this development”.

He called for greater co-operation and a closer working relationship between the city and residents so that an overall management plan for the Philippi Horticultural Area could be put in place.

The two decisions, announced on Monday by Bredell, both involved applications to amend the city’s Spatial Development Framework and to change the defined urban edge.

The Philippi proposal was to change the designation of 281 hectares of land involving 38 privately-owned properties in the south-western sector of the agricultural area, from “agricultural land of significant value” to “urban development”.

Wescape is a proposal for a self-sustaining mini city and is set to be built between Melkbosstrand and Atlantis on the north-western edge of the metropole.

The city’s biggest urban development project to date, the 3 100-hectare proposal will be the first mega-housing development since Mitchells Plain was established in the early 1970s.

The R140 billion project involves 200 000 houses, 415 schools, 370 public service facilities and 15 sports complexes built over the next 10 to 15 years, and the population of this “mini city” is expected to reach 800 000 by 2036.

john.yeld@inl.co.za

Cape Argus

After searching and believing he was safe, a mom received the news no parent wants to hear: her son had been killed.

Cape Town - After a weekend of frantic searching and believing he was safe, Brooklyn mother Susan Jansen received the news no parent wants to hear: her son had been shot and killed.

Mortimer Henry Jansen, 29, was shot dead and three others – a 14-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy and a 26-year-old man – were wounded in an alleged drive-by shooting in Loanda Street, Brooklyn, on Monday.

Jansen’s body lay under a blanket outside a block of flats while residents stood in shocked silence nearby.

Susan Jansen repeatedly tugged the blanket open to look at her son’s bloodied face as if to assure herself that he was gone. “I don’t know what to do with myself,” she sobbed.

“After spending the weekend looking for him, I was glad when they told me he was in police custody. At least he was still alive. But now to see him lying there lifeless, it’s just too much.”

Mortimer had spent the weekend behind bars and was released earlier on Monday afternoon. Jansen told the Cape Argus that Mortimer was a member of the 28s gang.

However, she said details of his arrest were unknown to her.

“I didn’t even know what he was at the police station for.”

Jansen said she was looking forward to seeing her son.

“I was on my way back from work and one of his friends came running to me and told me that he was shot dead,” she said.

Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a white CitiGolf with tinted windows parked near the block of flats where Mortimer and his friends were headed.

One said: “Four men jumped out (of the car) and started firing shots. They fired about 11 shots and then they got into the car and fled.”

One of the wounded ran to her home and a few seconds later Mortimer’s friends came to his aid, but it was too late. The other wounded had, according to residents, run away.

Residents said they had no doubt that the shooting had to do with Mortimer’s release, which they believed to be in connection with a murder case.

Police, however, could not confirm this but said the shooting happened at around 3pm in Loanda Street.

Police spokesman Lieutenant- Colonel Andre Traut said the circumstances were being investigated and no arrests had been made.

zodidi.dano@inl.co.za

Cape Argus