Latest news with #WynbergMagistrate'sCourt
IOL News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Justice Department fails to hold officials accountable after Wynberg court shooting
Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi says consequence management will be undertaken upon conclusion of an investigation by the South African Police Service to establish how the security breach occurred at the Wynberg court building. Image: File Three months after the tragic shooting of a murder-accused within the premises of Wynberg Magistrate's Court, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has not held any officials accountable for the failure in security measures that led to this incident. The shocking event unfolded on April 8, when armed men brazenly entered the court, resulting in Dingalomoyo Chintso's death in a violent act that has raised serious concerns about the security at courts. Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi confirmed that no disciplinary action has been taken against officials responsible for the administrative collapse at the court building. 'The department is working closely with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to establish how the security breach occurs at the court building, to conclusively ascertain gaps or negligence so that appropriate remedial action can be taken. Upon conclusion of the investigation, consequence management will be undertaken,' Kubayi said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ She made the comments when she was responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Rebecca Mohlala, when she enquired about immediate disciplinary and/or remedial actions for the administrative collapse that resulted in Chintso being shot and killed inside the court building. Kubayi said following the unfortunate incident at Wynberg, a security risk profile was concluded and a new security intervention plan was put in place. 'A prioritisation plan was put in place to replace faulty X-ray machine (April 2025), with a functional X-ray to improve the searching procedures at the access control point of the court. 'Security engagement was held with service provider to discuss improvement and tougher and strict measures in averting smuggling of any illegal weapon inside the court precinct.' She also said the situation was being tightly monitored and other high-risk courts are being attended to. Last month, Kubayi outlined a wide-range of measures introduced to beef up security at the Wynberg Magistrate's Court. This came after the department directed the installation of a security scanner, tightening of access control to prosecutors' and magistrates' office, and enhance vetting of court officials after the fatal incident. The minister previously said a scanner has been loaned from the Director of Public Prosecution's office for use until August while finalising the procurement processes. 'Procurement of a new multi-purpose scanner - detecting metal, copper, drugs, steel, and plastic - is under way for the front entrance. A basic scanner (is going) to be installed at the judiciary's back entrance,' she said at the time. Asked by Mohlala about the reasons her department failed in some cases to maintain functional X-ray machines, Kubayi said the department has 730 courts nationally. Some have electronic security infrastructure, which is over 10 to 15 years old and often faulty and non-functional as well as X-ray machines and metal detectors. She also said the department has appointed a service provider, even before the incident at Wynberg Magistrate's Court, to provide maintenance and repairs of the electronic security infrastructure in courts. 'The biggest challenge is the aging electronic security equipment, which experiences mechanic or maintenance breakdowns. The department is currently engaging in a new procurement plan for the acquisition, repair and maintenance of electronic security infrastructure to improve court security and the basic security systems of the courts.' She added that security management of the department conducts periodic reviews of the state of security for courts to improve the basic security systems. 'The periodic reviews focus on the effectiveness of the basic security systems such as metal detectors, X-ray machines, access control systems, Close Circuit Television and the generic emergency response plans at the individual courts.'
Daily Maverick
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Fugutive Pagad member finally arrested after eight-year manhunt
Police arrested Pagad member Faizel Felix on Monday after he had evaded gun charges for eight years. According to sources close to the case, the arrest signals that police are serious about combatting vigilantism. Faizel Felix, 52, who faces a charge of the illegal possession of a firearm, is back in custody after previously absconding from court and being on the run for eight years. On 14 July 2025, Felix was nabbed by the Hawks' Crimes Against the State team in the Western Cape on a warrant of arrest issued in 2016. Elaborating on the case, Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said Felix was arrested on 19 August 2015 by the City of Cape Town's Special Investigating Group for the illegal possession of a firearm. The matter was then referred to the Hawks for further investigation. 'Felix appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court for the illegal possession of a firearm. He was granted bail. He disappeared and never attended court again. His non-attendance led to the court issuing a warrant for his arrest and subsequently his arrest on Monday, 14 July 2025,' she said. The vigilante group Research by the Institute for Security Studies, titled 'Vigilantism v. The State: A case study of the rise and fall of Pagad, 1996-2000' states that Pagad started as a movement against gangsterism and drugs but led to vigilantes using pipe bombs and firearms. The report further states that Pagad evolved rapidly into an organisation with a political agenda, purging dissenters, intimidating the Muslim establishment, as well as liberal and feminist Muslims, and attacking police, prosecutors and judges. One of their most heinous crimes occurred on 4 August 1996, when notorious Hard Livings gang leader Rashied Staggie was publicly lynched and set ablaze with petrol by a Pagad mob outside his house in Salt River. Felix's first run-in with the law was in 2001 when he was accused of being behind a motorbike explosion in front of the Wynberg Magistrate's Court. Days before Felix's bail application, the main witness, Ashraf Saban, was murdered. He could not be prosecuted because there were no state witnesses left to testify against him and all charges relating to the explosion were withdrawn. Back then, prosecutor Eunice Grey stated that the firearm used in his murder was the same one used to shoot Ebrahim Gallie, a key witness in the State's case against Ebrahim Jeneker. Jeneker, Abdullah Maansdorp and Moegamat Isaacs, former members of Pagad, were released on parole in November 2020 after serving 21 years for six murders in 1999. Not too late for justice A former police officer who infiltrated Pagad at the height of its reign of terror spoke to Daily Maverick on condition of anonymity. A criminologist close to the case also spoke to Daily Maverick on the condition of anonymity. The pair were concerned about the ongoing existence of Pagad in areas such as the gang-ravaged Mitchells Plain. 'Whether it is eight or 20 years, this kind of crime can't escape accountability because time has lapsed,' said the former officer on the charges against Felix. Both the criminologist and former officer said Felix must be held to account. 'There is an emergence of vigilante tendencies in the country, because people are frustrated with the police. One must show when you engage in that kind of activity, then you will be held accountable, whether it is after five or 16 years,' the pair said. The former officer said Pagad appeared to be gaining momentum in Mitchells Plain, stating that it was understandable given the challenges with policing in the area. According to the SAPS fourth quarter crime statistics of the 2024-2025 financial year, from January 2025 to March 2025 there were 319 murders perpetrated due to vigilantism. The leading provinces were Eastern Cape (70), Gauteng (69) and Western Cape (64). 'There are townships in the Western Cape and other parts of the country where people are turning to vigilantism because they are frustrated with the police. In that sense, Pagad is not exceptional. 'When you have a police service that refuses to do what it must do, which is to deal with crime, then you have that kind of crime,' the former officer said. He added that when Pagad initially emerged in 1995/96, the counter-argument to vigilantism was that there was a new government and new Constitution and they must have a chance to deal with crime. 'Now fast forward 30 years later, the police have failed. The government has failed dismally in dealing with crime, it has not shown seriousness in dealing with crime. 'You can't deal with these crimes by appointing commission upon commission of inquiry. Now the ordinary person in Manenberg, Lavender Hill, Gauteng and other parts of the country is sitting there and they are saying, 'President Cyril Ramaphosa is appointing another commission; we are dying here because of crime, and our children are infected with drugs; no we are going to do our own thing,'' he told Daily Maverick. Pagad distances itself In a statement, Pagad national coordinator Haroon Orrie distanced the group from Felix and said calling him a member was a 'blatant misrepresentation'. 'We have, since 2015 to the present day, asserted categorically, and very publicly, that a group of former members of Pagad have been expelled from the organisation, due to their contravention of the objects, policies and discipline of Pagad. They have formed a separate splinter group, referring to themselves as the 'G-Force'. Faizel Felix is a member of this G-Force. He is not a member of Pagad,' said Orrie. 'Pagad has embarked on processes to prohibit this splinter group from using and operating under the name of Pagad. This splinter group has been implicated in a range of illegal activities.'
IOL News
03-06-2025
- IOL News
Lansdowne police arrest suspected serial cat killer in Ottery
An alleged cat killer has been arrested after a whistle-blower reported that the suspect is killing cats and put them in the municipal dust bin. An alleged cat killer has been arrested after a whistle-blower reported that the suspect is killing cats and put them in the municipal dust bin. Lansdowne police have arrested an accused serial cat killer in Ottery. A joint operation between SAPS and the Cape of Good Hope SPCA saw authorities nab the 29-year-old suspect inside his home in the informal settlement of Freedom Park in Ottery on Sunday. Authorities were told the man is responsible for the killing of five neighbourhood felines. The suspect is facing charges of animal cruelty in terms of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962 and is expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday where the SPCA will be opposing bail. This comes after authorities received a tip-off alleging the suspect has killed more than five cats over the past few months in the area.
IOL News
30-05-2025
- IOL News
Accused hitman requests to share cell with fellow inmates due to depressive solitary confinement
Abubaker Adams, left, with Shireen Matthews in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court. Image: Independent Newspapers The alleged hitman accused of murder inside the Wynberg Magistrate's Court says a single cell is too 'depressive' and wants to move back in with other inmates at Pollsmoor Prison. Abubaker Adams is one of the five accused, along with Shireen Matthews, Brian Booysen, Wanay Farao and Vuyisani Zengetha, charged with the premeditated murder of Dingalomoya Chintso on April 7. The five were back in court on Thursday, where they allegedly executed the hit on Chintso on the fourth floor of the same building. The accused face charges in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) for aiding and abetting criminal gang activities in association with the Junky Funky Kidz (JFK) gang, premeditated murder, and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. The court was expected to start with the bail applications of the accused. However, Adams's legal representation, attorney Kevin van Vught, asked the court to make provisions with the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) to have his client placed in a communal cell. Van Vught said: 'On the last occasion at court [Adams] was injured at court and apparently fell down the stairs. The situation was so bad that an ambulance was summoned and he had to be taken to hospital, but was not taken. He received no medical treatment at hospital, however, he was placed in a single cell and unfortunately he finds the solitary confinement extremely depressive and is having a consultation with a psychologist [today:Fri].' Shireen (far left) and Wanay (far right) to apply for bail. Image: Kim Swartz Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel. The magistrate said that most inmates want to be in a single cell, however, Adams wants to be where it is populated. The magistrate said that she can only order that DCS checks on him at the Pollsmoor hospital as the court has no powers to instruct DCS on where to keep inmates in a prison. Meanwhile, the court only heard that Matthews, the alleged mastermind, and Farao, the alleged firearm smuggler, would apply for bail. The case was postponed to June 6. Cape Argus
IOL News
26-05-2025
- IOL News
Parole revoked for convicted rapist found with missing girl in Hanover Park
Igshaan Williams appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Friday. Image: Supplied The man alleged to have kidnapped and raped a nine-year-old Hanover Park girl appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Friday. Convicted rapist Igshaan Williams, 51, was formally charged with rape, kidnapping, human trafficking, and sexual assault. Williams was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 2005 for raping a 10-year-old and was granted parole in late last year. Previously, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said Williams was identified as Isaac Booi on their system, however, he appeared in court under a different Muslim name. DCS spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, explained that community corrections officials have since verified his identity and confirmed that he is indeed a parolee currently under the supervision of the Cape Town Community Corrections office. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed the matter has been postponed for two months. He also revealed the status of Williams' parole. 'The accused's parole has been revoked. This means that there is no bail application. The accused will now appear via Audio Visual Remand (AVR) from now on,' Ntabazalila said. Residents from Hanover Park came out in their numbers demanding justice for the girl and her family. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ According to the Public Relations Officer for the Faith and Hope Missing Persons, Dennis George, they got a call at about 5pm that the girl had gone missing. She was last seen on Tuesday, May 13, between 3pm and 4pm. 'The suspect had sent the girl to the shop with R20 to buy him milk. On her way to the shop, she got a friend and told her she would be back. She said she would just be taking the milk back,' George said. When she did not return, residents went searching for the child, and she was found in the home of the parolee. This caused immediate chaos as residents were baying for Williams' blood. The matter has been postponed until July 25. Cape Argus
