POLOKO TAU AND ALI MPHAKI
A MAN was shot dead and his female companion raped after they were hijacked in Soweto the night before the release of national crime statistics, which show a general decrease in crime.
Police said the couple, both 29, were hijacked by two armed men in front of the woman’s house in Diepkloof Zone 3 at about 10.30pm on Wednesday.
“It seems like a family member saw it happen and called the police. The two men drove in the victim’s white VW Polo down the Soweto Highway and into Orlando East using Mooki Street,” said Orlando police spokesman Warrant Officer Bongani Mhlongo.
“It looks like the man was fighting them and was possibly shot while the car was in motion. His body was dumped in Nomzamo informal settlement (in Orlando East).”
Nomzamo residents said they woke up to find police officers standing around a body dumped behind a row of portable toilets.
Mhlongo said that after dumping the man’s body, the two suspects drove to an open space in Bramfischerville, where they allegedly raped the woman.
“The woman was left there by the suspects, who fled in the hijacked car. She then went to the Dobsonville police station, where officers contacted the Orlando police station, and with information given by the woman, the man’s body was found at the squatter camp. He had been shot three times in the upper body.”
Mhlongo said police were looking for two suspects wanted on charges of murder, rape and hijacking of a motor vehicle.
Meanwhile, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, announcing the latest crime statistics, said yesterday that murder and other violent crimes had dropped over the past year in most areas of the country.
In Soweto, Moroka is again the most dangerous area to live in. The murder rate statistics at the Moroka police station, which covers Chiawelo, Phiri, Senaoane, Mapetla, Molapo, Rockville, Mofolo and Dhlamini, are up by more than 10 percent, with 78 murder cases reported between April last year and March this year compared with 70 murder cases reported between April 2009 and March last year.
Following closely behind Moroka when it comes to murder cases is Meadowlands with 46 murders and Dobsonville with 41.
The situation has gone from bad to worse in Orange Farm, south of Joburg, which reported an almost 20 percent increase in its murder rate, which rose from 50 to 58 cases.
Dube is the safest area, with just three murder cases reported, down from eight.
The safety of women in Moroka is also a cause for concern, with a total of 295 sexual crimes reported between April last year and March this year. However, this is down from the 304 cases recorded in the preceding year.
Dobsonville is another unsafe place for women, with the number of sexual crimes reportedly up from 247 to 274 cases. Orange Farm follows closely with 207 sexual crimes, down from 243 cases.
In Moroka the number of residential burglaries has risen from 872 to 898 cases. In Dobsonville, 884 burglary cases were reported, up from 857.
Businesses are also being hard hit, with Moroka again topping the charts with 262 burglaries at non-residential premises. Kliptown has also not been spared, with 106 cases, up from 81.
In Dobsonville, carjacking cases in the area topped 95. This is a remarkable decline, considering that in the preceding period, 122 such cases were reported.
Motorists in Moroka reported 70 carjacking cases, down from 111 previously.
Theft of motor vehicles and motorcycles is high in Moroka, where 222 cases were reported. This is followed by Dobsonville with 150. Dube recorded only one such case.
Regarding common assault, Eldorado Park recorded 1 716 cases, followed closely by Moroka with 1 407. Moroka also registered the highest number of cases of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, with 1 082 cases. Eldorado Park was second with 892 incidents.
Lenasia South recorded the highest number – 77 – of robberies at residential premises, with Moroka in second place on 60.
Though it may be the safest place in Soweto, Dube has recorded the highest number of stock theft cases, with a total of 16 such incidents reported. Ennerdale had four similar cases.
Log on to www.iol.co.za for residents’ views.
See pages 6, 7 and 10