Pretoria councillor accuses police of ignoring violent crimes and vulnerable victims

A Pretoria councillor has told JoburgEtc that a series of violent incidents in his ward have received little attention from police, leaving families and vulnerable people without answers.

Ward hit by murders, rapes and suspected cover-ups

The DA councillor said his ward covers Capital Park, Claremont, Daspoort, Hermanstad, Pretoria Gardens and the Gamorrah informal settlement. He described finding crime scenes and people who appear to have been neglected by authorities.

He said that “the past few months, we have had a couple of murders and rapes, which were swept under the carpet.” The councillor cited one case in which a body found in a stream was initially reported as a drowning but the post-mortem indicated the man had been murdered before being dumped.

Missing elderly couple found dead after delay

The councillor said he received a WhatsApp voice note asking for information about an elderly couple who had been missing for several weeks. He and community forum members checked the house nearest the Green Containers informal settlement in Plaas Street.

He said police did not attend when community members investigated. He added that an officer from the Tshwane Metro Police Department eventually helped; when they looked through a window they saw a foot, and when the officer entered the house he found the couple dead on a bed. The councillor said they had apparently been dead for over a week.

Describing the condition of the bodies, he said there were cats in the house that had started eating the couple’s flesh. “Their fingers were missing, and the woman’s face. Her fingers and rings were lying on the floor,” he said.

Other violent incidents and limited police presence

The councillor described several other violent incidents he believes were not pursued with sufficient interest. He said about two months earlier a woman was abducted in Booysens, dragged to a field, raped and attacked with a panga, but survived.

He said homeless people under a bridge later alerted Proshield Security after seeing a Polo stop on the bridge and a woman being thrown over the side; the security company found the woman’s body. He said police did not attend that scene. He said the woman had been raped and attacked with a panga.

The councillor also said an elderly man was stabbed to death in a daylight robbery, describing the killing as “One stab in the heart, and he was dead on the scene.”

Concerns about investigations

The councillor expressed concern that many of the crimes were occurring in the same area and said there was very little interest in investigations. He said he doubted anything would come from an investigation into one of the cases.

The police were yet to comment.

What residents described

• Missing elderly couple found dead in their home after appearing to have been dead for over a week.
• Body discovered in a stream initially recorded as a drowning; post-mortem indicated murder before disposal.
• Survivor of an abduction, rape and panga attack in Booysens.
• Woman found dead after being thrown from a bridge; alleged rape and panga attack.
• Elderly man stabbed to death during a robbery in broad daylight.

The councillor said he sees “nobodies” in his community and is raising these cases because he believes they have been overlooked.