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20110826

Springs landowner under siege from gold-pirates

Illegal golddust-mining in Dersley, Springs continues despite deaths of six mine-pirates….

Afrikaner land owner Koos Botes, frustrated by the plague of hundreds of illegal gold-pirates descending on his smallholding in Dersley every day, might soon get his license for a legal mining operation -- under the guidance of an experienced gold-miner, a former police-man.   History of Springs gold-piracy problems

BOTES KOOS 100s of illegal panners destroy his property Dersley SpringsAug262011

26 August 2011 Springs journalist Amanda van den Barg writes that with the bodies of six alleged illegal miners discovered on his land this year alone, owner Koos Botes is desperate to find a way to stop them from entering his property. He may soon get a solution: a legal mining operation under the guidance of an experienced gold-miner and ex-policeman.

365 goldmine-pirates arrested – and then just released again…

BOTES KOOS 100s of illegal panners arrested let go again destroy his property Dersley SpringsAug262011

Police have raided the site several times: in one raid,  some 365 illegal gold-miners people were arrested – but promptly let go again…. “We can only do so much, and the owner of the property also needs to put in some effort,” says sector manager Warrant Officer Wynand du Toit. http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/springs/springs-news-general?oid=1317303&sn=Detail&pid=490321&365-illegal-miners-arrested--then-let-go

It would cost R1-million to build a security fence…

Access to the property is easy with no fences or security to deter illegal miners from entering the 94.8 hectare site. When the Advertiser went with police and Botes to assess the problem on August 24, a large number of trespassers were spotted, most presumed to be mining illegally. Boes has yet to obtain his mining licence from the ANC-regime – mineral rights rest with the State -- and as a result, feels his hands are tied.  “It would cost over a million rand just to put a fence up, and if I’m not making any money from my land, where will I get that money?” he asks, frustrated.

One of the trespassers readily came forward to speak to this newspaper, and was surprised by police’s presence.  According to him, he has worked on the land for 15 years, roughly the same amount of time that Botes says he’s owned it. He says that years ago, he paid Botes R25 a week rent to mine on the land, often sharing big finds with him.  “But we stopped paying him about two years ago, because the police would come here and cause trouble for us,” he says, adding that he personally did not believe Botes did in fact own the land.

Botes was quick to dismiss this claim, admitting that he knew the man but only because he had been caught trespassing so many times in the past. He admitted that he had indeed got a crew together five years ago, and had charged them weekly rent. “But then I fell ill and decided to stop,” he says, adamant that these men have no right to be on his property. “I work here every day, and use what I find to buy some meat and pap for my family,” the trespasser says.  “Most of the people here work for bosses, but there are some tsotsis (armed criminals) who come here to steal, and they are also the ones who bring the bodies of people who have died at other mines,” he claims.

A police officer joined the conversation and assured the trespasser that Botes was definitely the owner of the land.  “Really?” the trespasser answered, genuinely surprised. The damage being done to his land  will cost Botes around R250,000 to repair, he estimates. According to police, these illegal miners are not only after the gold, but are stealing the sewerage pipes as well.

On the same day, two men were arrested by police and charged with illegal possession of gold. Many of the others who had run away, slowly started returning to work as police left the scene.  “If they came to me and wanted to work with me to mine the land intelligently, this wouldn’t be such a problem,” says Botes.

Botes has, however, now been put in contact with an experienced miner, who according to W/O du Toit, is an ex-policeman, and will receive assistance in making his property more secure. He also hopes to have his mining-licence by the end of September.  “This project could create up to 500 jobs once it’s off the ground,” he says on a more positive note. It’s not known what kind of yields can be expected from the panning operations. Springs has a plethora of gold-mines and gold-mine dumps which are still being sifted through for gold-dust by thousands of illegal miners, working for illegal syndicates – and frequently engaging in turf-wars and gun-fights to loot each other’s loot.

Fierce gunfights between illegal gold-miners: two more bodies discovered in Dersley,  Springs

MURDERED PEOPLE LEFT ON SIDE OF ROAD DERSLEY SPRINGS JULY25201125 July 2011 - Police discovered the bodies of two murdered black males, neatly placed on the side of Orpiment Avenue, Dersley, early on Saturday morning.25 July 2011 Journalist Amanda van den Barg of the Springs Advertiser noted that the police are regularly finding the bodies of murdered people.It is believed these specific murdered males 'may have been illegal miners'. (zama-zamas). These two men died from various injuries, leading police to suspect they perished in some rock fall.They were then wrapped up and left on the side of the road. Rather than call police to the scene and alert them to possible mining sites, illegal miners are allegedly leaving the bodies in the open for police to find.

White Springs residents targetted by violent armed gangs: at shops, going to work, coming back from work…

8 Aug 2011 - Johan Beytell, chairman of the Casseldale Community Police Sub Forum (CPSF) was one of four Springs residents hijacked within two days. Beytell stopped at the Strubenvale Pick n Pay to pick up a few groceries and arrived at his Casseldale home at around 7:45pm last Tuesday. “I always check to see if I have been followed before pulling into the driveway and opening the gate, because this is where you are the most vulnerable,” he says.
Beytell pulled into the driveway and was walking back to the gate when a white VW Polo drove past his house and stopped a few metres away from the gate. Two well-dressed men got out of the car and approached the gate. “I froze as soon as I saw them coming, and when they realised I’d seen them, they started to run towards me,” he says.The Polo sped off and he could hear one of the two men cock a gun as they continued towards him. “I knew I was in trouble, but when you’re actually in the situation, you freeze,” says Beytell, reliving the experience. “They came through the gate, the gun pointed at me and ordered me to lie down.” The thug had the gun pointed at the back of his head while he searched Beytell, taking his money and cellphone. “They even took my handkerchiefs!” he exclaims. “I could see they were nervous, so I tried to stay calm and told them they could take whatever they wanted,” he says. Beytell’s wife and grandchild were in the house. While one of the hijackers held him up, the other reversed the car back down the driveway. Beytell’s wife noticed the car leaving the driveway, looked out the window and saw him lying on the ground. She screamed and terrified that the hijacker might shoot at her, Beytell ordered his wife to go back into the house, where she called the CPSF. Once the car had reached the road, the second man ordered Beytell to stay down and ran out of the yard. “I was convinced that they would try and shoot me,” he says, explaining how he got up and ran towards the gate just as the hijackers stalled the car. Beytell had a radio fitted in his car, in order to communicate with CPSF members from Casseldale as well as from other suburbs - making the situation worse. “CPSF patrollers went out immediately to try and find them, but unfortunately the hijackers could pick up where the patrollers were from the radio communication,” he says. He blames himself: Beytell “admits that despite being observant and extremely cautious when driving, he was "at that moment a soft target. I don’t believe they were following me; if they had, they would have hit me when I first pulled up to the house,” he claims -- believing that they were ‘simply driving around and saw an opportunity when they spotted him in the driveway, his gate still open’.

Elsa Grove, two other women in three attacks: Daggafontein, Eastvale, Dersley - Springs.
Aug 8 2011 Afrikaans resident Mrs Elsa Grove of Daggafontein, Springs  was assaulted at her home before she got ready to leave for work on Wednesday morning. Mrs Grové had left the car in the road idling and went back to lock up the house when four men approached her.They punched and kicked her, pulling her jersey over her face as she screamed to her husband for help, before punching her again.Two armed black men went up to the house and assaulted her husband, demanding money and the couple’s cellphones. After a struggle, the thugs made their way to the car on the road.“They all climbed into my car and as they drove of, the man who had hit me and was now sitting in the passenger seat of my car, wound down the window and fired a shot at me,” says Grové, still shaky from the ordeal.“Police later found the bullet in my driveway,” she adds.The couple’s silver Honda Ballade was recovered an hour later in Selcourt. “Our neighbours were amazing, calling police and the car tracking company,” she says, grateful that they survived.Another woman, hijacked in Eastvale last Wednesday, is still shocked by the level of violence used on her by her attackers.“They were so rough and were really throwing me around,” she says.She was on her way home when a white Audi sped past her.“I thought somebody was in trouble; I never imagined that it was me,” she says.As she pulled into her driveway, the Audi reappeared. Two men got out of the car and flung her to the ground.They hit her on the back of the head, angry because she had fallen onto her handbag, and they were struggling to take it away from her. They then asked if there was anybody home and made her take them to the house.“Fortunately, I lock my German shepherd in the house and he was barking,” she says. The ordeal came to an abrupt end, with the hijackers rushing back to her car. Both cars then drove away.The woman’s car, a gift from her father, was recovered two days later.A fourth hijacking took place in Dersley last Tuesday morning. A young girl was forced out of her car in her driveway, the hijackers fleeing with her white Opel Corsa.According to police, hijackings have definitely increased in Springs: 

http://www.saps.gov.za/crime_prevention/safety_tips/car_hijacking.
http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/springs/springs-news-general?oid=4571227&sn=Detail&pid=490323&Hijackings-in-Springs-on-the-increase

http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/springs/springs-news-general?oid=4543218&sn=Detail&pid=490321&Two-bodies-

http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/springs/springs-news-general?oid=4659428&sn=Detail&pid=490317&Illegal-mining-in-Dersley-continues

http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2011/08/springs-families-besieged-by-criminal.html

Local news Aug 25 2011

Summary: Naomi Harmse cursed for ‘white bitch’, beaten by black cop;  Elderly widow Irene McCarthy assaulted by aggressive mob of black strikers; Landmark Constitutional court ruling - ANC-regime not required to pay advance compensation for expropriated properties; Kempton Park bakery owner attacked; ethnic cleansing of Afrikaners continues in Pretoria; Dairy-manager Van der Gryp ‘s killers get life in prison.

Mrs Naomi Harmse cursed as 'white bitch', beaten with fist by black Vanderbijlpark cop
2011-08-25 - A black police officer at Vanderbijlpark who attempted to take a cellphone from Mrs Naomi Harmse, cursed her for a 'white bitch,' assaulted her in the charge office, sat on top of her and pummeled her in the face with a fist.  Beeld journalist Riata Nel interviewed and photographed the terrified woman after her ordeal.
  http://www.beeld.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Vrou-glo-geslaan-in-polisiekantoor-20110825

Harmse Naomi Vanderbijlpark cop beat her in the face with his fist Aug 25 2011

Mrs Naomi Harmse (28) was driving on Faraday Street in Vanderbijlpark on Friday-night with a male friend at 23:15 enroute home when rubbish on the road when she was forced off the road by a car - and this caused a burst tyre. Just as they were being forced off the road a car stopped behind them. "I thought it was the car which had forced us off the road and asked the male person why he had done this.'  Then a number of other unknown black men exited the car behind them - and descended on the white couple's car. They plucked her friend from her car and started dragging him away while she tried to stop them from attacking him. But the local police then showed up  and arrested the Afrikaans couple. At the charge office she was forbidden to make any calls, even though she was being arrested allegedly for assault - and had the legal right to call her lawyer to arrange for bail.  "I had hidden my cellphone so that I could call for help to get me out, but it rang and the cop at the charge office demanded that I give him my cellphone. I refused,' she said.  "The next moment he was on top of me, threw me from the chair to the ground, sat on me, beat me with a fist in my face, called me a white bitch,' she said.  Her friend dragged the black policeman off her. The couple remained in custody all weekend, and appeared in court on Monday on 'assault charges' and released on their own cognisance. She has lodged a formal charge against the police officer, confirmed warrant/officer Kinnie Steyn, who also confirmed the couple's arrest. It’s not known if a court-date was set for the ‘assault charge’.   http://www.beeld.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Vrou-glo-geslaan-in-polisiekantoor-20110825

 

Nelspruit cops ignored assault on elderly white widow by striking mob Aug232011 White River widow Irene McCarthy was struck, cursed with hatespeech, her car rocked by large mob of aggressive black strikers - "I pay taxes for these roads: my Irish blood boiled and indignation welled up...' she said:

23 August 2011 -- White River. An elderly widow was abused and assaulted as she tangled with a rioting mob in the latest wave of strike protests. Nelspruit journalist Peter Doble writes that elderly White River widow Irene McCarthy was verbally abused and assaulted as she tangled with a rioting mob of large black males in the latest wave of strike protests. She was blocked from travelling through White River on Friday morning as a group of about 50 municipal workers moved from junction to junction stopping all traffic, emptying and dispersing litter and setting fire to it. Cars, taxis and trucks were forced to run the gauntlet of burning debris and broken glass as they jumped red lights  to avoid the mob. The traumatised Mrs McCarthy was hit in the face while the mob of strikers surrounded her car, kicking it, rocking it, throwing it with stones and beating it with sticks.
"I was not going to allow them to stop me from going where I wanted," she said, still visibly distressed and nursing her injured cheek.
"I pay taxes to use these roads and they have no right to prevent me from doing so. As they surrounded the car, my Irish blood boiled and indignation welled up. They started to push my car backwards and then rock it. As I drove forward they became more abusive. I told them that I was not scared of them." As the mob started to disperse, the whole group pressed intimidatingly against McCarthy's car, and at that point someone hit her in the face with an object causing her to black out and sending her glasses flying. McCarthy staggered out and, although shaking with fear and anger, she was determined to go to the police station and lay a charge. 
Police from nearby cop-shop were conspicuous by their absence until afterwards…
Bystanders were threatened and aggressively ordered not to take photographs. It was not a peaceful march or protest but  an organised act of deliberate violent public disorder. Despite White River SAPS  located close by, there was no visible policing. The rioting group was watched while causing mayhem, starting fires and abusing motorists and pedestrians without any monitoring or interference. A policeman dressed in civilian clothes  arrived after the McCarthy incident but by then the protesters had moved on. The government previously pledged that riotous behaviour would not be tolerated from strikers. Nelspruit municipality has sought an emergency High Court interdict to prevent any further public nuisance from its strikers. Municipal communications manager Ms Bessie Pienaar said that photographic evidence of incidents has been requested and the appropriate legal or disciplinary action will be taken against identified individuals.
http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/lowveld/lowveld-news-crime?oid=4630591&sn=Detail&pid=490171&Elderly-widow-struck-by-strikers

 Three black gunmen (in hijacked car from white man Boksburg) attack white bakery owner in Kempton Park
Kempton Park attackers of white bakery owner arrested by metrocops Aug252011 25 August 2011 - Three black gunmen attacked the owner of a confectionary-bakery at Croydon Kempton Park earlier today.  Supt Wilfred Kgasago, metro police spokesman, said all the white owner's personal belongings, the money as well as two unlicensed firearms were recovered after the three very aggressive gunmen were arrested by metro-police. The armed attack against the owner of the Croydon Confectionery took place at around 11am. The owner was robbed of a substantial amount of cash, car keys as well as a Blackberry cellphone.  Kgasago said metro police officers closed in on a white Hyundai Tucson fitting the description of the vehicle circulated as involved in the robbery on Modderfontein Road near Rabie Ridge.  "All three suspects were arrested. On checking the chassis number emblazoned on the window of the suspects' vehicle, records reflected the vehicle was hijacked in February in Boksburg," Kgasago added. The three adult black males face charges of armed robbery, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition as well as possession of a suspected stolen vehicle and goods. The docket was registered at Rabie Ridge Police Station. The trio were remanded for their bail-hearing date at Tembisa Magistrate's Court yesterday.
http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/kempton-park/kempton-park-news-crime?oid=4658056&sn=Detail&pid=490121&Three-nabbed-shortly-after-armed-robbery-at-confectionary

Afrikaners ethnically-cleansed from Pretoria by ANC-regime using court-orders: but providing no alternative accommodation first: 
Afrikaner Wendy Houses Daspoort demolition court case Sept 2 and Sept 22 2011 VisagieStrCourtPretoria Aug 26 2011 – PRETORIA. Whites have no survival or housing-rights in SA: poor-white mom Elsie Brits, left,  was dumped in the street with 3 small kids: the ANC-regime has torn down her shack AND her tent with court approval – but does NOT provide alternative housing for this white squatter:  Magda Stroebel of the Angels at Work charity at the Daspoort smallholdings near Pretoria -  where Elsie Brits' home was torn down -- writes that Elsie gets her vegetables from the Afrikaner squatter camp. However they also can’t help her with housing: the entire squatter camp also faces being torn down: they have orders to appear in the Pretoria municipal court in Visagie Street, Pretoria on September 2 2011 to hear the fate of their own squatter shacks, which houses  homeless Afrikaner families:


BRITS ELSIE and children dumped in street ANC council breaks her tent and shack down Aug252011The ANC regime is ethnically-cleansing all the Afrikaners from Pretoria - with the aid of their 'law-court'.
Mrs Stroebel writes that they received a fresh-fruit and vegetable donation on August 25 2011 so they can at least keep the young mom and her children fed for a while. But she's living out in the open with her three small children: not allowed to erect any kind of temporary structure on the PRIVATELY-OWNED smallholding.  Elsie Brits:
http://on.fb.me/r1qxLi  Angels at Work:

 ANC-regime CAN expropriate private land WITHOUT advance compensation: Constitutional Court but the State always must provide alternative accommodation before eviction…

JOHANNESBURG – In a land-mark ruling against an Asian land-owner in Durban which is expected to have an important impact on the ANC-regime’s ongoing confiscation of privately-owned landed properties countrywide, the Constitutional Court did not agree with a KwaZulu-Natal family trust that the amount and time of compensation must be settled before their land was expropriated.

The judgment was handed down in Johannesburg on Thursday. The matter related to private  properties belonging to an Asian family along the Umgeni River which flows through parts of Durban. When notice of expropriation in order to canalise the river was received in 2004, Mohammed Yusuf Haffajee and others did not formally object. They were willing to vacate the property but wanted to enter into a private treaty. The expropriation date was set by the municipality for July 31 2005 without an agreement on compensation having been reached. The  Durban municipality had tendered a compensation amount but it was rejected as too low for the actual land-value. The ANC-run city officials believed that compensation and expropriation were separate, and that a disagreement on compensation did not invalidate expropriation. However the Haffajee family insisted that expropriation could not take place until the amount of compensation had been determined. An eviction order against them was granted by the High Court in Durban and the private land owners then appealed this on the grounds that expropriation before settling the compensation issue was unconstitutional.  They believed that under the property clause in Section 25 of the Constitution, determining the amount and time of the compensation was a prerequisite.  Leave to appeal was refused in the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal. The Haffajee family then applied for leave to appeal at the Constitutional Court, but the court found that although there would be times where it would be unjust to evict people before determining  compensation, like cases where people could lose their livelihood or homes, there were also cases where this would not be possible. Urgent evacuation ahead of natural disasters would be an example.“An inflexible requirement for compensation before expropriation would therefore be against Section 25(3) of the Constitution that the amount and time of compensation must be a balance between the public interest and the interests of those affected by expropriation,.’ the constitutional court stated in a ruling which is expected to have a widespread effect on the ANC-regime’s current expropriation of all privately-owned properties in South Africa. The court ruled that Section 25(2) of the Constitution did not require that the amount and time of compensation and payment must always be determined before expropriation.  The court said this determination would generally be just and equitable, but where it had to be done after expropriation, it should be done as soon as was reasonably possible.

Rights to access to housing must be protected: state must provide alternative housing before eviction:

Eviction cannot be done without court supervision: The ruling also included the assessment that In disputed cases of eviction, the courts must always ensure a just and equitable outcome in line with Section 26, which protects the right of access to housing.
The court allowed the application for leave to appeal, but the appeal itself was dismissed with each party ordered to pay their own costs.

http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page292525?oid=550572&sn=2009+Detail&pid=287226

 Farm-manager Loffie van der Gryp 2008's murderers sentenced to life: killer’s mother apologises to Afrikaner family:
Grijp vd Loffie manager Sterkfontein Dairy Farm ltr Roedolf, Loffie, Linda, Leandre, Bennett[9] 2011-08-25 Beeld journalist Jinine Botha covered the trial of some of the black murderers of dairy farm-foreman Loffie van der Gryp at Sterkfontein on Oct 28 2009.

She writes that the Van der Gryp family cannot forgive the killers. Original police-statements noted that  the farm was attacked by twelve gunmen. Only three were convicted yesterday and one man acquitted. It's not known what happened to the other  attackers. Yesterday, convicted murderer Dumisane Ncebesha's Mozambican mother burst into tears in court when she heard the life-long prison sentence pronounced. Mrs Anna-Marie Strydom, sister of the murdered farmer, said in reaction that while 'the killers deserved what they got,' she obviously would never blame the mother for the grief she now has to go through.

Mother of killer apolologises to family:

Sentenced to life-long sentences were Dumisane Ncebesha, 23, (of Mozambique); South Africans Joe Joseph Mashala (22) and George Thulani Mahlalela (28). Ncebesha's mother feared to be identified because she might lose her work, she told Beeld journalist. However – the weeping mother approached the widow of the murdered Afrikaner farmer after the ruling, gave her a hug and apologised for what her son had done to her."My heart is very sore for my child but also for the Van der Gryp family,' the mother said.

Family friend Frida Coetzee commented that'the mother can still go and see her son in prison. We will never see Loffie again.' Besides the murder of Van der Gryp, the murderers also were sentenced for attempted murder of neighbour , dominee Marthinus Jacobus "Boer" Booysen and  robbery with extinuating circumstances.for this crime they were sentenced to 30 years - but that's meaningless because in South Africa all the sentences are served together. A fourth accused Karlito Macamo (29), was acquited of the charges.

The entire Van der Gryp family was attacked on 28 October 2008, the children were tied up and held at gunpoint --  and forced to listen to their father shot dead execution style – while he was tied up and had been hit by a stone."The murdered farmer had posed no danger to the gunmen, who even kicked him after he was shot dead,' said judge Philip Hattingh. Other factors taken into consideration, he said, were tthat none of the murderers had ever shown any remorse; and the fact that the dairy farm deteriorated after Van der Gryp's murder. 

Farm worker Phillemon Mokasi testified against the killers:

He quoted the testimony by farm-worker Phillemon Mokasi, 49: "Before his murder the farm produced 10,000 liters of milk a day, now it produces 1,500 liters. I am an old man, where can I still get work? Young people should know if you walk the road of these men, you will end up behind bars.” the judge said that the dairy-farm had to let go half of its workers after the murder and more workers are expected to lose their jobs this month."The Sterkfontein Dairy was managed by Mr van der Gryp: he did not own it.

This dairy supplied the entire region with milk products from its own Fresian herd - and it was located in a commercially very advantagenous position:  right next to the Greensleeves restaurant along the R563-route to Hekpoort and Meropeng.

Although the murderous attack was persistently described as an 'armed robbery', there is no evidence that anything was actually robbed from the dairy farm nor from the Van der Gryp family: the only items were looted from neighbour, pastor ‘Boer”  Booysen after he was disabled in the gun-fight which erupted before Van der Gryp was executed.The gang had first bashed Van der Gryp over the head, leaving him dazed and bleeding on the ground. They had tied him up. The gang was split into several groups: some attacking the family, tying them up at gunpoint: Linda, 46, Bennett, 23, Roelof, 21, and daughter LeandrÉ (17). Booysen, the pastor of the Van der Gryp family's Afrikaans Evangelical Church nearby, and whose house they were renting, had gone out to investigate and the pastor then was injured in a fierce gun-battle with the gang. They shot Booysen in a leg; and then executed Van der Gryp.

http://www.news24.com/beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2446910,00.html

http://www.beeld.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Trane-na-vonnisse-vir-moord-20110825

http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/2010/04/land-invasion-platinum-rich-cradle-of.html