Nomzamo tavern shooting: Suspects traced to a Sadc country

Gauteng premier David Makhura on Tuesday expressed outrage about shootings in the province in July and August.

Speaking in the Gauteng legislature, he noted the impact of crime on business, particularly on township businesses.

“We express our deepest outrage about the shootings in July and August in our province in areas including Katlehong, Orlando East, Alexandra, Mamelodi, Tsakane, Johannesburg CBD, Thembelihle and Diepkloof,” he said.

Makhura told members of the provincial legislature 34 people were killed and another 32 injured during the shootings.

“Police have arrested 17 suspects with regard to the shootings in Katlehong, Alexandra, Tsakane and the Johannesburg CBD,” he said.

He said criminals used high-calibre firearms in some of the shootings, attacking people in establishments that are legally operating in communities.

“The police service has been working extremely hard and I must report they have been able to track some suspects and trace others. They have traced some who committed these crimes and ran to neighbouring countries where they came from,” he said.

Makhura said police have identified suspects involved in the Nomzamo tavern shooting and traced them to a Southern African Development Community (Sadc) country.

He said the police were collaborating with authorities in that country to bring the suspects to SA to face the law.

“Some of the criminals are linked to ongoing violent crimes. Some of the crimes are related to cash-in-transit heists and others to illegal mining in our province,” he said.

Lifestyle audits for MECs

All MECs in the province have complied with a lifestyle audit conducted by the State Security Agency, said the premier.

This assessed their sources of income, whether they live within their means and are tax compliant.

“They checked everything. They verified all the details,” Makhura said.  

He said in September MECs will undergo polygraph testing after they agreed to expand the auditing beyond the first phase.

“MECs voluntarily, all of us including myself, feel we must go all the way.

“At the end, they will be able to issue a full top-secret security clearance and full compliance. That’s what we want. We don’t want half-measures.”

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