SAPS making progress in tackling #TaxiRape cases
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Johannesburg – Gauteng police are making headway into the investigations of the spate of rapes in the province.
According to SAPS spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini the police are now investigating over five cases of the rapes that took place in Roodepoort, Booysens and Orlando.
Dlamini added that there were no suspects that had been arrested for the crimes as yet.
“Yesterday there was a person that was taken into questioning but the suspect was found to not have been directly involved with the case,” Dlamini said.
Dlamini also added that the Task Team that was set up with high level police officers yesterday, would also be looking into the inaction of the police.
“It cannot be that when people go to police stations to have the cases opened they are sent to other police stations. The police must open the case for you, regardless of where you open it and then the procedure to transfer it to the right police station will happen, he added.
The office of the MEC of Community Safety in the province has also said they were confident that arrests will be made. This after the MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane had a meeting with the Gauteng National Taxi Alliance and SAPS in the province to ensure that the matter is dealt with appropriately. At a press briefing that followed the meeting, Nkosi-Malobane made demanded from the taxi associations that they work together to ensure that the culprits are handed over to the law.
“The MEC’s call was answered because there’s a taxi that has been identified and confiscated because it’s believed to have been involved by the police. The owner of the taxi has also been taken into questioning,” Ndivhuho Gadisi, Nkosi-Malobane’s spokesperson said.
Gadisi added that the MEC was confident that Gauteng taxi passengers would be safe again as “arrests are imminent”.
Meanwhile, South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) Gauteng chairperson Buti Mkonza said they would be making an effort as a taxi association to ensure that all their taxis and those of their affiliates are marked properly with the relavant stickers in order to curb the criminal element in the taxi business.
He added that the association was also doing its internal investigations to find the culprits.
masego.panyane@inl.co.za