Coffin Found but Cops Still on the Hunt for 'Missing' Blue Couch After Looting
- Law enforcement has begun a strenuous recovery operation to unearth the items stolen during the recent widespread looting in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal
- So far, reports have suggested that millions of rands worth of looted goods have been recovered while the efforts to find more continue
- Everything from beds to electronic items and even a casket have been recovered, to date
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Ongoing police recovery operations across Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal are continuing to yield millions of rands worth of stolen goods following the recent widespread looting in the two provinces.
In conjunction, personnel from the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) have been on a recovery mission to retrieve an incalculable amount of stolen goods.
Source: UGC
Recent reports suggested that the recovered goods included everything from beds to electronic items and even a casket. Looters have begun to abandon stolen items amid the ongoing recovery efforts in homes.
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According to TimesLIVE, a clearing conducted at an informal settlement in Mountain Rise, Pietermaritzburg on Monday unearthed luxury goods as the 4 South African Infantry Battalion and police swept through the community.
Elsewhere in Ezinqoleni in the Ugu district of KwaZulu-Natal, a casket was recovered on the same day. It is not known if the box contained a corpse at the time of recovery.
The community living in a section of the Glebelands hostel in Umlazi, Durban, threw looted items out of the windows to avoid being caught in possession of them after SAPS descended on the area on Tuesday.
Minister of Police Bheki Cele said the stolen goods would be placed in storage facilities and later used as possible evidence in pending criminal cases.
"Evidence rooms are full. Right now, we are trying to get a warehouse where we can keep them," Cele was quoted as saying.
To date, the police said over 3 400 suspects have been arrested on various charges linked to the looting spree.
What began as a clear protest for the release of former president Jacob Zuma quickly spiralled into massive unrest, leading to the destruction of shops in malls, warehouses, and other infrastructure.
President Cyril Ramaphosa described the unrest as a "failed insurrection" attempt in a recent address to the nation. Reiterating this at an ANC Mandela Day event he said:
"It is clear now the events of the past week were a deliberate, coordinated and well-planned attack on our democracy, on our economy and our people’s livelihoods. Our young democracy and our movement are going through ... a very difficult time."
Malema reacts to Defence Minister Mapisa-Nqakula’s about-turn
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema had a short but hilarious response to a video of Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula that is doing the rounds on social media, Briefly News recently reported.
This is after a high-profile member of the party's Central Command Team and its former national spokesperson, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, went on a short rant by poking holes in the government's apparent abrasiveness to last week's unrest.
With all of this playing out in the foreground in the immediate aftermath of the chaos, Malema's response was as brief as it was sharp. He tweeted:
"Shem."
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Source: Briefly News
