Vigilant police officers arrested five suspects who had robbed a local chain store in Wolseley at gunpoint.
On Wednesday, at about 10am, armed suspects entered the store in Wolseley, pointed a firearm at the staff and fled the scene with a bag filled with cellphones and an undisclosed amount of cash.
Western Cape police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said: “Members of the Economic Infrastructure Task Team and the Boland K9 Unit responded to information that the vehicle, a maroon Kia that was used in the commission of the offence, was en route to Wellington. The vehicle was stopped and searched in Bainskloof Road upon which the members recovered the cellular telephones and money that was found in the vehicle.”
Five suspects between the ages of 28 and 54 were arrested on charges of business robbery and possession of stolen property.
They will appear in the Wolseley Magistrates’ Court once they have been charged.
Meanwhile, in the Northern Cape, provincial commissioner Koliswa Otola welcomed the five life sentences that were handed down to convicted rapist Jeffrey Kenosi in the Mothibistad Regional Court on Tuesday.
In a disturbing series of events, Kenosi, 30, carried out heinous crimes in Madibeng Village and Eiffel Village, Severn. On April 30, 2021, he attacked a pregnant 21-year-old woman outside a tavern, assaulting and forcibly dragging her to his house where he raped her twice. Despite his arrest on May 7, 2021, Kenosi was granted bail six months later. On January 27, 2022, he struck again in Eiffel Village, breaking into a house where four girls were having a sleepover. He barricaded the door, beat the girls, aged 15, 16, and two 14-year-olds, with a sjambok, and subjected them to rape while their parents slept in a nearby room.
Arrested three days later, Kenosi remained in custody until his sentencing on November 28, 2023, in the Mothibistad Regional Court, where he received five life sentences to run concurrently.
His name will be added to the sex offenders register, and he is declared unfit to possess a firearm.
Otola commended the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Keitshwaretswe Schoeman, of the Kuruman Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit, for her “meticulous investigation” that led to the conviction.
Otola reiterated: “GBVF remains a priority crime for SAPS and officers will continue to sharpen their responses to crimes committed against the most vulnerable in society, especially during and beyond the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign and beyond.”
Cape Times