mrselfdestrukt's Journal: News Flash: Cops crack down in Muldersdrift

Cops crack down in Muldersdrift
21/11/2005 20:01 - (SA)

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Johannesburg - Police are stepping up patrols in the Muldersdrift area west of Johannesburg after the murder of an elderly couple at the weekend.

It was the latest in a spate of violent attacks in the area.

Sylvia Hart, 84, and husband Harold Hart, 88, were found dead on their farm in Muldersdrift on Sunday morning. Both had multiple wounds from an unknown object.

"Police are stepping up patrols in the area," said superintendent Milicia Bezuidenhout.

"The commissioner has re-addressed the Honeydew station commander and he has put in extra steps. Hopefully the police can make a breakthrough."

There has been a series of violent incidents in Muldersdrift in the past year.

A robber was shot dead by the owner of a Muldersdrift smallholding on Monday night, West Rand police said.

In August, the 48-year-old owner of a plot in Muldersdrift shot dead one of his former employees, allegedly part of a gang of robbers trying to rob the smallholding.

Shot in the forehead

In July, two United States filmmakers were shot and wounded by three robbers at a guesthouse in Muldersdrift.

In June, a man survived being shot in the forehead during a house robbery in Muldersdrift.

In April, Ulrich Lange, 81, was murdered on his smallholding in the area.

In May, a Muldersdrift resident, Michael Clarke, put his house on the market after being robbed for the fifth time.

In another incident in Muldersdrift that month, a gang of four robbers shot and injured 65-year-old Chris Klein after overpowering his daughter, Sanet du Plessis, 34, and a friend.

Bezuidenhout said the police had a dedicated task team working with sector policing crime forums.

Many victims know their killers

"We need the community to be involved where we can share information. We need to know what the community problems are in the area," she said.

Bezuidenhout said there had numerous successes in the area.

"I can't say how many people have been arrested. But people who have been known to the victims have been arrested."

Some had been previous employees, she said.