Domestic

KwaZulu Natal police have launched a manhunt for the gunmen who shot dead five people in shooting incidents in Tongaat on Thursday afternoon.

Police arrested over 550 people on various charges during Monday’s national shutdown which the Economic Freedom Fighters said had been an overwhelming success.

The Hawks in North West are searching for a man they said was a person of interest in a matter where a woman was fleeced out of R2 million.

Police said 87 people were arrested across the country on charges of public violence since the beginning of deployments of police and SANDF members in response to the national shutdown called by the Economic Freedom Fighters.

The deployment of 3 474 soldiers to support the security forces for Monday's shutdown called by the EFF, is estimated to cost taxpayers, R166 562 058.

A 34-year-old woman will make her first court appearance in the Knysna Magistrates court on Monday after police found 21 kilograms of dagga in her possession. She was arrested on the N2 highway at Sedgefield near Knysna on Friday when Police conducted a roadblock. 

The Johannesburg High Court has dismissed an application by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to have the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) national shutdown on Monday declared as “unlawful”.  However, in its ruling on Saturday morning, the High Court did issue an interdict against inciting any form of violence, interruption or shutting down of businesses, public roads and schools on the day.

Three of the 16 suspects who were arrested during the take-down of a syndicate of drug traffickers and who appeared in the Oudtshoorn Magistrates Court on Friday are residents from George. The supects, 36-year-old Vladimir Gordon, 44 year old Malvyn Jacobs and 36-year-old Louis Emezo appeared  alongside 13 other suspects who reside in Oudtshoorn, Gqeberha, Ladismith, De Rust and Calitzdorp.

South Africa’s National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has allayed fears of anarchy ahead of the EFF-led national shutdown on Monday. In a lengthy statement on Saturday, NATJOINTS said maximum resources have been mobilised to heighten police visibility on the day to prevent and combat any form of opportunistic crimes.