One suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder of a woman whose body was found in a veld in Dobsonville, Soweto on Friday. The community found the woman’s body, which had wounds to the upper body, under a tree.
Police Minister Bheki Cele made the announcement at one of the roadblocks in Soweto where the police and soldiers were out in their numbers to enforce compliance.
The Minister also announced that 1 685 police officers have tested positive for the coronavirus, with 14 of them losing their lives.
While a suspect is in police custody in connection with the Dobsonville murder, no arrest has been made regarding the murder of another Soweto woman, Tshegofatso Pule who was laid to rest this week. But police say a suspect has been identified.
In this video below, Cele confirms the arrest:
Pule’s body was found hanging from a tree with stab wounds in Rooderpoort, west of Johannesburg.
Cele says in the Dobsonville case, the woman is believed to have been murdered somewhere else.
“Well, with the body that was picked, we suspect strongly that she was not killed there. Somebody has been picked up on that one (sic). We’re working on that but there’s somebody who’s in the hands of the police. With the lady, Miss Pule, nobody has been picked up, but we know who we want. We have the name, the surname. Maybe very soon will be picked up. So, we’re following closely on that,” says Cele.
The suspect is expected to appear in court on Monday. Cele says there’s a link between the abuse of alcohol and a spike in crime, including gender-based violence.
The minister has openly spoken about his unhappiness after the ban on alcohol was lifted when the country moved to level 3 of the national lockdown on the 1st of this month.
He says crime has spiked since the 1st of June.
“Figures of murder have come; figures of attempted murder have come; figures of abuse, including this gender (gender-based violence). Definitely, this kind of violence, does go with some kind of abuse of alcohol. I’m not going to make my call on alcohol (as to) what happens to it, but it’s one thing we’ll have to look at going forward in life. What’s the relationship between alcohol, drugs, the gender-based violence, but for all of us, I’m making the call, it’s a societal issue. Let’s come together on this one, and fight it together,” says Cele.
In this video below, Cele assesses Level 3 lockdown compliance in Soweto:
