SAPS OPERATIONS SHANELA

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ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA

SAPS OPERATIONS SHANELA 

PRETORIA - Between 27 July and 2 August 2025, the South African Police Service (SAPS), recorded significant victories against organised crime and high-impact offences through intelligence-led and coordinated operations across provinces led to the arrest of 17 054 suspects.

This week, Shanela operations effected the following arrests across the provinces:

• 2 911 wanted suspects were arrested for serious and violent crimes such as murder, attempted murder, car hijackings, rape, house and business robbery

• 179 for murder with KZN with 38 followed by GP with 36

• 266 suspects for rape and KZN leading at 104 arrests

• 1 763 for assault GHB during this period

• 246 for dealing in drugs

• 2 406 for possession of drugs, WC leading with 1 645

• 15 suspects for human trafficking

Confiscations and Recoveries:

• 1 805 rounds of ammunition

• 1 55 firearms

• 53 hijacked and stolen vehicles recovered during this period

 Major takedowns and operations:

GAUTENG: Gauteng Police in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, arrested a suspect who is believed to be part of a syndicate that commits armed robberies around Gauteng and other provinces. The suspect was arrested in Southgate, Johannesburg, on 29 July 2025. The team seized two unlicensed firearms that include an AK-47 rifle and a pistol.

Furthermore, a 37-year-old alleged serial rapist, and killer was arrested in connection with more than ten cases of rape and murder that were reported at Eesterust in Pretoria during a joint operation conducted at Mentz village, Mankweng, Limpopo province. The suspect utilised a Tinder Dating site to lure his victims to his residence, where he raped some of the victims.

FREE STATE: The Bloemfontein Anti-Gang Unit intercepted a Volvo truck on the N8 Road near Bloemfontein, uncovering illicit cigarettes worth R800,000 hidden beneath blankets. The 42-year-old foreign national driver was arrested and is expected to appear in court.

KWAZULU-NATAL: Police in KwaZulu-Natal executed a high-impact search and seizure in the Durban CBD, resulting in the arrest of two foreign nationals and the recovery of counterfeit jewellery and luxury items valued at R30 million, as well as a shotgun, ammunition, and cash on 28 July 2025.

NATIONAL: On 29 July 2025, at OR Tambo International Airport, a 25-year-old suspect from São Paulo was intercepted attempting to smuggle cocaine valued at R4.2 million. The successful operation involved SAPS Crime Intelligence, Counter Narcotics Unit, the Border Management Authority, and private security teams.

In a separate operation, on 28 July 2025 police in Gauteng arrested two suspects aged between 34 and 45 years following days of surveillance for possession and movement of unlicensed firearms. The coordinated takedown involved multiple operational units, including PIU, Crime Intelligence, JMPD, and private security partners in Meyersdale, Johannesburg.

Additionally, SAPS Political killings Task Team arrested Business Katiso Molefe and three suspected hitmen for the murder of DJ Sumbody, and they are also linked to murder of Hector “DJ Vintos” Buthelezi. They have already appeared in the Alexander Magistrates’ Court on 29 July 2025, facing charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder as well as possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

EASTERN CAPE: On 28 July 2025, in Korsten, Gqeberha, SAPS seized counterfeit pharmaceuticals and consumer goods valued at R2.2 million, including unregulated tablets, skin creams, and pregnancy test kits. The operation targeted transnational distribution networks.

On 2 August 2025, in Ngqeleni, a suspect linked to an extortion ring was fatally wounded in a shootout with Tactical Response Team members. A 9mm pistol and live ammunition were recovered. His passenger was detained for questioning.

Additionally, in Port Alfred, SAPS disrupted a marine trafficking operation involving 822.76 kilograms of West Coast Rock Lobster tails worth R1.2 million. Two suspects were arrested for contravening the Marine Living Resources Act.

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Gauteng Premier Panyaza suspends Community Safety HOD and CFO

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ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA

Gauteng Premier Panyaza suspends Community Safety HOD and CFO 

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has suspended the Head of Department (HOD), Ms. Nontsikelelo Sisulu, and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr. Mduduzi Malope, of the Gauteng Department of Community Safety with immediate effect, as of 5 August 2025. 

The suspensions follow the conclusion of a forensic investigation by the Provincial Forensic Audit Unit within the Office of the Premier, which uncovered financial irregularities in the department. This prompted the Premier to intervene to safeguard the department’s integrity. 

The suspensions are a precautionary measure to ensure fair and unbiased investigations. “The provincial government is committed to restoring public trust by upholding the highest standards of integrity. 

We maintain a zerotolerance stance against corruption and misconduct. Through proactive and corrective measures, we will strengthen governance, ensure the ethical and responsible use of public funds, and safeguard the interests of Gauteng residents,” said Premier Lesufi. 

An acting HOD and CFO will be appointed to ensure continuity of service delivery. 

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Minister Motshekga appearance at Joint Committee

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Minister Motshekga appearance at Joint Committee 

The Democratic Alliance has written to the National Assembly House Chairperson, as a way to escalate the failure of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence to hold a meeting for Parliament to finally do its job and get to the bottom of what happened to the missing R813 million, that is unaccounted for by the SANDF.

Minister Motshekga has not been to Parliament to account for the DRC calamity for months, and she is being shielded from this by committee chairpersons who refuse to call her to account.

The Joint Standing Committee on Defence continues to fail to secure Minister Motshekga’s appearance, as Committee Chairperson Malusi Gigaba of the ANC now refuses to call her to come to Committee. Minister Motshekga simply must account for the R813 million allocated to the payment of SANDF deployment allowances, which is “missing or unaccounted for” but until Gigaba forces her to come to Parliament, she remains silent.

This blatant lack of oversight undermines transparency and accountability, but also insults our brave men and women in uniform, who were deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo, under very dangerous conditions.

The DA’s concern over the missing R813 million is further validated by new revelations that troops were short-paid, forced to survive on R22.91 a day, had to buy their own food - despite SADC funds meant to cover these very needs - and, even when they were kept by the M23 rebels, received no food from the SANDF.

The chaos surrounding the payouts to troops reveals the inability of the SANDF to do basic accounting. Whilst office-based staff are alleged to have received the full allowances meant for frontline soldiers, leave pay was calculated incorrectly, and there is no clarity on where the rest of the money went. The SANDF continues to bungle its finances as a grand scale.

Instead of addressing this mess, JSCD Co-Chair Malusi Gigaba has shielded the Minister and the SANDF from scrutiny.

After initially agreeing to write to the Minister for answers, Malusi Gigaba made a sudden u-turn and blocked the Committee from acting. This came just days after Minister Motshekga issued a press statement bemoaning the DA’s oversight.

The question must be asked: What is the SANDF and Minister Motshekga trying to hide? And why is Gigaba protecting a Minister presiding over such chaos?

Whilst the constant under-funding of the SANDF is a matter that requires urgent attention, the Department’s lack of prioritisation is a matter of greater concern.

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Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Capture of Law Enforcement Agencies

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ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA

Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Capture of Law Enforcement Agencies

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the convening of the newly established Ad Hoc Committee in the National Assembly, set to begin its work on Tuesday, 5 August 2025, to investigate the serious allegations of corruption, criminal syndicate infiltration, and political interference in South Africa’s law enforcement agencies. 

This Ad Hoc Committee follows the EFF’s consistent and principled intervention in Parliament calling for an urgent and transparent parliamentary investigation into the explosive revelations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, LieutenantGeneral Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. 

We welcome the National Assembly’s unanimous resolution to establish the committee, as a necessary first step in unearthing the rot that has destroyed the very foundations of justice and accountability in this country. 

The committee's mandate includes investigating the unlawful disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team and other issues brought up by Commissioner Mkhwanazi. However, of crucial importance are the deeply troubling revelations about the nature and implications of relationships between senior leadership in the South African Police Service (SAPS) and certain members of the public, as well as the infiltration of our judiciary which demand a level of transparency and accountability of the highest order. 

Parliament has, on multiple occasions, failed to act decisively in moments of national significance due to political bias including on the Section 89 independent report on the Phala Phala scandal and in responding to the findings of the State Capture Commission.

These failures highlighted how Parliament functions less as an independent arm of the state and more as an extension of the Executive. This cannot be allowed to happen again. The matters currently before this committee touch the very heart of public trust in our criminal justice system, and the stakes could not be higher. It is not only about corruption or misconduct; it is about whether South Africans can believe that the institutions charged with protecting them are not themselves captured by criminal interests. This includes the imperative to consider legislative, policy and institutional reforms that can restore confidence in law enforcement and the judiciary and that process must be free from political interference, particularly by those implicated or aligned to implicated individuals. It is for this reason that the leadership and composition of this committee are so crucial. 

Parliament must reclaim its role as a true oversight body, not a shield for executive wrongdoing. This is why the EFF believes the credibility and integrity of this Ad Hoc Committee will be best preserved if it is chaired by a Member of Parliament who is not part of the Government of National Unity (GNU). Given that the serious allegations under investigation include the conduct of the ANC’s Minister of Police and potentially other senior government figures, it is in the public interest to ensure that the committee is not perceived as compromised or conflicted. 

We therefore urge GNU partners represented in this committee to act in the best interest of Parliament’s reputation and, more importantly, in the interest of the South African people who are counting on this process to root out the criminal syndicates within the very systems meant to deliver justice and keep them and their children safe. 

We also call on the voters of all parties in the committee to hold their public representatives accountable and to demand that they prioritise truth, transparency and justice over political allegiance. This is an opportunity to demonstrate that Parliament can rise above partisanship and serve the national interest. 

The EFF will participate fully and fearlessly in this committee. We will ensure that no official, regardless of their rank, party affiliation, or proximity to power is spared scrutiny and that South Africa’s policing and justice system is restored.  

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ANC trade policy paralysis continues amidst looming US tariffs

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ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA

ANC trade policy paralysis continues amidst looming US tariffs

The interventions announced by Ministers Parks Tau and Ronald Lamola earlier today demonstrate that neither will take accountability for the 30% tariff imposed on South African exports to the United States of America in the absence of a solid trade deal.

Whereas our Southern African Development Community (SADC) neighbours have managed to negotiate their tariffs down to 15%, Ministers Tau and Lamola have left South African businesses and exporters vulnerable and exposed to the ongoing trade war. This diplomatic negligence and trade paralysis on South Africa’s part demands an urgent shift in attitude and approach on both accounts.

Interestingly, the interventions announced demonstrate that it is indeed possible for the ANC to rapidly cut the red tape that is strangling South African business. The measures such as the limited block exemption under the Competition Act is welcome, however, it does not go far enough. This eleventh hour action begs the question: why has it taken so long?

Surely now is the time for a comprehensive red tape reduction and deregulation across the entirety of the South African economy? This will allow South Africa to pursue bold and far-reaching reforms, including pivoting from blunt instruments such as ownership under the guise of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment, towards genuine investment and social upliftment under equity equivalence programmes which would enable stronger foreign direct investment.

It is time that government gets serious about South African jobs and livelihoods, and this requires two sets of urgent reforms:

1: A sustainable and supportive environment for business to grow and export;

2: The pursuit of a genuinely non-aligned foreign policy that does not place petty party-political interests above the interests of the republic.

It is also high time for a career diplomat with an understanding of the Trump administration to urgently be appointed to Washington D.C. to better represent South African interests and begin the work of repairing diplomatic channels and protecting vital trade relationships upon which hundreds of thousands of local jobs depend.

This role is far too important to be left to political loyalty over professional expertise. Previous appointments have puts on full display the threat posed to South Africa’s prosperity by incompetent cadres and party hacks in key government positions.

We urge both Ministers Tau and Lamola to follow the example set by agriculture minister, John Steenhuisen, who has worked proactively and tirelessly to diversify our agricultural export markets in Asia, where South Africa has now secured meaningful, impactful deals in China, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand.

Had Minister Lamola pursued economic diplomacy in any meaningful and non-aligned manner, we would not find ourselves in a situation where the fate of one of our key export markets now hangs perilously in the balance.

Ministers Tau and Lamola should not dismiss constructive criticism and alternative proposals as political point-scoring. The DA will not stop championing the cause of South African workers, businesses, and exporters through sound diplomacy and competitive international trade.

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EFF 30% TARIFFS HIKE BY UNITED STATES

MAKEKASIGREAT©®™ @KASIBC_AFRICA 

 ONLINE EDITOR @KASIBC_AFRICA 

EFF 30% TARIFFS HIKE BY AMERICA

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the statement issued by the South African government in response to the unilateral imposition of 30% tariffs by the United

States.  However, we reject this statement as weak, impotent, and inconsequential.

The joint statement by the Minister of International Relations and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, is a reactionary utterance that reflects poor preparation and a deep lack of understanding of the shifting global geopolitical terrain. The

government’s failure to anticipate and adequately respond to these developments is a direct result of its incoherent, ideologically bankrupt foreign and economic policies.

The coalition of neoliberal parties in government cannot act decisively because they are constantly at war with each other and have no shared vision for national economic security.

We reiterate that the South African economy is disfigured and dysfunctional. For the

past 30 years, the ANC-led government has failed to reorganise the structure of the

economy away from its apartheid foundation. 

It has chosen to preserve colonial

patterns of ownership and production, leading to over 12 million unemployed people and the highest levels of racial inequality in the world. In such a stagnant and extractive economy, any attempt to position South Africa within the global trade environment becomes futile. Without resolving domestic structural constraints, our country will always be at the mercy of dominant imperial powers, tossed between competing global interests like a leaf in a storm.

Donald Trump is an unstable and illiterate imperialist whose misuse of economic

power threatens both the capitalist and socialist world order. His reckless and irrational tariff regime is rooted in a misguided understanding of global trade and is designed to impose American dominance by destabilising weaker economies. He represents a serious threat to global economic stability and the sovereignty of nations in the Global South.

The EFF has long maintained that Trump’s presidency is a danger to humanity, and it

is time for all progressive forces across the world to unite and support efforts to remove

him from office. The world has suffered under his strong-arm tactics for too long, and

just as the United States has imposed regime change globally, it is now time to assist

the people of the United States in unseating their own dictator.

There is an urgent need for South Africa to develop a coherent and ideologically grounded National Economic Security Policy. 

This must begin by addressing

inequality, unemployment, and poverty through domestic industrialisation,

beneficiation, and land reform. Equally, a progressive foreign policy must emerge—

one that prioritises building alliances with trading partners such as China, Brazil,

Russia, and countries in the Global South, not through begging, but through mutually

beneficial cooperation.

While the US market is significant, this is not a time for sheepish diplomacy. The team

that negotiated on behalf of South Africa was weak, apologetic, and subservient. They

were treated like school children by the United States because they acted like school

children. This behaviour exposes the dangers of sending spineless envoys to do the

bidding of capital.

The Democratic Alliance (DA), much like AfriForum and Solidarity, is a political

extension of right-wing, white supremacist interests that seek to protect apartheid

privileges under the guise of liberal constitutionalism. It operates with the same logic of racial gatekeeping, economic sabotage, and disinformation. Its presence in the Government of National Unity (GNU) is not a gesture of reconciliation but a strategic

effort to weaken the state from within. 

The DA uses state resources to undermine the

very government it serves in, while pursuing an agenda that protects monopoly capital

and foreign interests. It is a snake fed at the dinner table of democracy, only to poison

the well at night.

We reaffirm the need for South Africa to align with progressive trading partners who

respect national sovereignty, support industrial development, and do not treat trade as an extractive, transactional affair. 

The EFF calls for the urgent acceleration of trade agreements and partnerships outside of the United States. This must not be done

through bureaucratic support desks, but through decisive, strategic, and politically

coherent engagements with countries that share a vision for a just global economy.

Forums such as the G20 must be used to shift trade away from dependence on imperial powers and toward a multipolar order built on mutual respect, solidarity, and shared development.

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