Silver Mercedes Gang – Targeting Glenvista, Mulbarton areas and Brackendowns over the last two weeks. This video clip is from the armed robbery yesterday afternoon on Farnham Drive Mulbarton at 17h42. This is what we know:-

Modus Operandi – 3CM working with 1BM at least 3 armed with possible Barretta type handguns. The BM is overweight and has gold fillings in his mouth. He is often used as a pedestrian lookout who will scout the target that week and on the evening. Watch for him hanging around. They will drop him off close by before an attack and the remaining 3 do the armed robbery.

17 January 2014 By Tamara Arden

Many motorists find them abusive and aggressive and feel they force people to give them money. They also stand in the middle of the road causing a hazard for moving traffic.

Spokesperson for eblockwatch Andre Snyman has his own strategy when it comes to window washers.

“When you approach robots, stop 10m before them, ” he said. “Then wait until they get to your car and edge forward. That way you will never be next to them and they cannot approach the car.”

Mark Pinky Rozyn wrote on the eblockwatch Facebook page warning the public to “be very careful at the intersection at Grayston Drive and Katherine Street”.

He contacted the police and Metro police about the problem but said they “do not seem interested in stopping this”.

According to Metro police spokesperson Edna Mamonyane, the window washers’ actions were not a serious crime. She said if they were arrested, they were let go the next day and return to the same spot to carry out their window washing. Mamonyane added that the main problem lay in their behaviour towards women.

“They intimidate and harass women motorists as well as swear at and threaten them,” said Mamonyane.

They keep returning to the same location because, according to Mamonyane, “some people feel sorry for them and keep giving them money”.

She advised motorists to ensure their windows were closed and not to engage with the window washers.

“If we ignore them, they will not return to the intersection,” added Mamonyane.

January 9, 2014 By The Star

The alleged smash-and-grabber at the Bryanston Shopping Centre. Photo: Supplied
Two minutes. That’s how long it took a smash-and-grab robber to drive into a shopping centre, park his car, break into someone else’s vehicle and drive off.

The theft took place on Tuesday at the newly upgraded parking bay of the Bryanston Shopping Centre shortly before 4pm. The incident was captured on film and the clip has been posted on crime-fighting organisation eblockwatch’s Facebook page.

The car break-in clip starts with the robber driving into the centre in a silver Nissan Tiida with an unidentified man sitting in the front passenger seat.

He then parks his vehicle next to a black Pajero.

The man leaves his vehicle and inspects the black car. Once he is done, he walks about 20m across the bay to a white BMW.

Three seconds later, the man walks towards the corridor leading into the centre. He quickly makes a U-turn, presumably because there isn’t anyone along the corridor.

He walks back to the parking bay between the Pajero and a white Toyota Camry. He aims at the back right window of the Camry. He breaks into the car with an unidentified object.

Four seconds later, he walks away carrying a laptop bag. The break-in and theft last one-and-a-half minutes.

The CCTV camera picks up the man leaving the parking bay in the same Tiida, with registration number VLK976GP.

The owner of the Camry, Chris Grant, said it was a careless mistake leaving his laptop unattended.

“I didn’t realise I would be longer at the bank. I am aware of these incidents, but didn’t think it would happen,” he said.

Centre manager Deborah Hall said they were appealing to customers not to leave valuables in their vehicles. She said this was the first incident to have happened in the centre, especially at the upper parking area, which is still new.

The centre has more than 60 cameras displayed around the mall.

Eblockwatch’s Andre Snyman said it was silly of people to leave their belongings visible in their vehicles.

He urged anyone who spots the Tiida to contact the police immediately.

Police were unable to comment on the matter at the time of publication.

In November, The Star published a story and pictures of a smash-and-grab incident in Newtown. The driver was caught on camera approaching a Chevrolet parked in Jeppe Street and then breaking the front passenger window using an unidentified object. He took a laptop and other valuables.

The driver was arrested the next day after showing up at an accident scene on the corner of Marshall and Auret streets. He appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court and was released on bail.

He was rearrested later last month for a similar crime. He was denied bail and is due to appear in the same court on January 22.

January 2, 2014 By The Star

Johannesburg – Four men accused of murder are on the run after unwittingly posting selfies on their victim’s Facebook profile.

Lynette Smit, wife of the victim, was surprised to find pictures of the men she believes shot her husband popping up on his profile. The killers were not aware that the pictures being taken with the victim’s iPhone were automatically being loaded to Facebook.

According to The Star, Wentsel Smit was shot on Christmas Eve in 2012 during a house robbery.

Just after midnight, the couple heard a noise and found two men standing next to the bed. They shot her husband twice, in the shoulder and chest, and shot her in the chest. Her wound was a graze. She stayed with Wenstel holding his hand, while the killers demanded cellphones and laptops

“I held my husband’s hand and asked him to hold on, but I felt his hand go slack and I knew he was dead” she was quoted as saying.

“We had waited for 12 years for a baby, and in the end he only had two months with his dad” she added.

A few days later Lynette noticed the activity on his facebook page and notified the police. However, officers were unable to track the men.

Community crime-fighting organisation, eBlockwatch, heard about the case and got involved.

The organisation formed a group of 100 people who used technology to identify the men. They were traced to Mozambique.

“We have a whole stack of information that we will now be giving to the police” said founder Andre Snyman.

According to Snyman many criminals didn’t realise that are phones sometimes linked to social network pages, and he believed the selfies were unwittingly made public.

National SAPS spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale said police would be handing the information to detectives so they could work on the case, reported The Star.

January 2, 2014  By The Star

FOUR men could soon be brought to book for murder – after posting selfies of themselves on their victim’s Facebook site.

Lynette Smit, from Rustenburg, North West, was still trying to come to terms with her husband’s murder when she discovered that the alleged perpetrators were posting pictures of themselves on her husband’s Facebook page.

Wentsel and Lynette had tried for 12 years to have a baby, and were ecstatic when they found Lynette was pregnant in 2012.

But their son was only two months old when Wentsel was shot dead in a house robbery on Christmas Eve in 2012.

The couple, who lived on a smallholding in Spruitfontein, Rustenburg, were watching Christmas programmes on TV before going to bed. The baby cried and Lynette got up to make his bottle.

“As I was feeding him, I had a feeling that someone was watching me,” she said. “I went to my husband in the bedroom to tell him I had felt like someone was watching me, and he told me not to worry because everything had been locked.”

Just after midnight, the couple heard a noise and found two men standing next to the bed.

Lynette said they shot her husband twice, in the shoulder and chest, and shot her in the chest. Her wound was a graze, and she sat next to Wentsel and held his hand while the four robbers in the house demanded cellphones and laptops.

All four men then left the house, but not before shooting the families five dogs dead.

“I held my husband’s hand and asked him to hold on, but I felt his hand go slack and I knew he was dead.

“We had waited for 12 years for a baby, and in the end he only had two months with his dad.”

A few days later, Lynette became aware there was activity on Wentsel’s Facebook page. Men were posting self-taken images of themselves with the stolen iPhone. They did not seem to realise the phone was synced to Facebook and that all their pictures were automatically being loaded onto Wentsel’s page.

Lynette started sobbing as she told The Star how she felt when she saw the men who killed her husband and shot at her posting their pictures on his page.

She reported the matter to the local police, but said officers seemed unable to trace the killers and bring them to book.

Community crime-fighting organisation eBlockwatch heard about the case and got involved.

Founder Andre Snyman said they formed a group of 100 people who used technology to identify the men. They were traced to Mozambique.

“We have a whole stack of information that we will now be giving to the police.”

Snyman said many criminals didn’t realise that phones linked to social network pages, and he believed the selfies were unwittingly made public.

National SAPS spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale said police would be handing the information to detectives so they could work on the case.

l eBlockwatch was also alerted about another case of criminals being identified on social media.

Graham Collett had his laptop stolen from his car at Cresta shopping centre in October. He had bought it from Deon Naudé, who installed an app that allowed him to remotely take over the laptop.

Naudé said someone, believed to be the thief, was watching inappropriate movies.

A few days later, he saw the man looking at his own Facebook page. Naudé made a screen grab of the page and was able to identify the man.

Snyman said the man had been traced to Maputo.

“He claims on his Facebook page that he is a student at the University of Johannesburg but our investigation has revealed that this is false.”

Sep 8, 2013 By Abram Mashego

A Hillbrow police officer could have been drunk when he rammed into another vehicle causing a three-car pile-up.

The accident happened on Friday along Presiden Fouche Drive in Olivedale.

Community crime fighting group, Eblockwatch, yesterday released pictures of bottles and cans of alcohol inside a marked police City Golf that was allegedly driven by a white police officer.

Eblockwatch founder, Andre Snyman, said the pictures were taken by one of their members who was involved in the accident that involved three vehicles.

“The lady took the pictures as proof that the officer could have been drunk. She said the paramedic also smelled alcohol from the officer’s breath. It is not known if the officer was breathalysed on the scene.”

He said the lady, who was scared to speak to the media or have her name published  for fear of being targeted by the police, said  the beer cans disappeared from the police vehicle 15 minutes  after the accident.

They were allegedly removed and hidden by some police officers who arrived at the scene.

“She is very worried that the police will be after her because it’s the State’s case and also because a police officer caused the accident. She said it was a white chap in the police car who was completely drunk and he crashed into a lady who is pregnant.”

Snyman said information they received indicated that the police officer was seriously injured and could have been taken to Olivedale clinic.

The Eblockwatch has already forwarded the pictures of the police vehicle and the beer cans next to the front passenger seat.

It is not known if the police officer had been charged for alleged drunken driving or reckless driving.

Gauteng police spokesperson Lt.Col Katlego Mogale could not be reached for comment yesterday.

August 8, 2013 By Web Ed

The “show house thieves”, known as “Bonnie & Clyde” were arrested Wednesday night in Port Elizabeth.

According to a post on the eBlockwatch Facebook group, the couple that have been stealing from home owners trying to sell their houses, were arrested at 23:30 in Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth. They were found in their vehicle with their dog.

It is suspected that the couple were “feeling the heat” in Cape Town after estate agents circulated images of what they look like and the vehicle they were traveling in.

TygerBurger first reported on the couple in July after they targeted several show houses in the northern suburbs, pretending to be potential buyers, but then allegedly stealing valuable items from the owners of those houses.

They changed their modus operandi soon after targeting houses where the “for sale” boards were advertised. They allegedly used the particulars of the estate agents to gain entry to the houses.

They couple moved up the East coast and were then spotted near Knysna a few days ago.

André Snyman, founder of the eBlockwatch group on Facebook told TygerBurger on Tuesday that the eBlockwatch network of agents were able to track the two after they stole business cards from a lawyer in Stellenbosch. The two apparently used the cards to gain entry to houses that are for sale, telling the owners they were sent by the estate agent.

The two is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. While the two are enjoying the comforts of Humewood Police Station’s holding cells, arrangements have been made to take their dog to a local animal shelter.

May 13, 2013 By Sarah Evans

A video showing a Pretoria cyclist being assaulted by the VIP bodyguards of a foreign diplomat has caused an uproar among the cycling community.

The video shows the cyclist, Hein van der Merwe, being pushed to the ground by the bodyguards, who allegedly tried to run him off the road.

Van der Merwe claimed he took photographs of the diplomat, who allegedly threatened him before driving off. This is where the video starts – after the diplomat’s bodyguard allegedly knocked Van der Merwe’s phone out of his hand and pushed him to the ground.

He claimed that the photographs were deleted and that the police would not take down his statement. This was despite the fact that the driver broke diplomatic protocol by not reporting to the nearest embassy after the altercation.

The video shows Van der Merwe shouting for help while witnesses looked on. The owner of the cellphone, on which the video was recorded, repeatedly shouted for the police to be called before onlookers intervened and helped Van der Merwe up.

Getting attention
Van der Merwe told the Mail & Guardian on Monday that he was training last Wednesday near the University of Pretoria when the black Mercedez-Benz narrowly missed knocking him down.

He said he tried to get the driver’s attention by cycling next to the car and repeatedly shouting at him. Finally, Van der Merwe said he struck the side mirror of the vehicle twice.

“The vehicle deliberately tried to run me over by swerving into me right outside Pretoria Boys’ High,” he said.

An argument ensued, and Van der Merwe said the driver admitted seeing him at the previous intersection, but felt he didn’t have to stop, as it was up to the cyclist to “take evasive action”.

The driver allegedly told him that he tried to run him down on instructions from the diplomat in the vehicle.

“He also told this to the police officer who was on the scene, when the police officer asked him why he broke protocol by not driving to the embassy,” Van der Merwe said.

“After a heated argument, I told the driver, after he asked me why I was throwing such a scene, that I wanted him to apologise as it is drivers like him that hit and seriously injure cyclists using our public roads,” he said.

Intimidation
It was then that the diplomat allegedly threatened to break Van der Merwe’s neck. The driver then took off his jacket and tie “in an attempt to intimidate me”, he said.

“He tried to tempt me to hit him by telling me to do so but I refused as I knew everything was being recorded, and that I did not do anything wrong,” he said.

Van der Merwe repeatedly tried to ascertain the nationality of the diplomat, but his bodyguards refused to tell him.

“I then took photos of the vehicle, licence plate, car licence, the bodyguard and the driver,” he said. At this point, the bodyguard allegedly told him these photos would “get me nowhere”.

He then asked the diplomat directly.

“The diplomat directly threatened me and told me I was going to go to jail and that he will see to it,” Van der Merwe said.

“I then went to the Brooklyn police station to press charges and open a docket where they told me they cannot open a case and that I have to go to some headquarters in Troy Street as it [the incident] involves diplomatic police and foreign diplomats,” he said.

eBlockwatch
Van der Merwe then enlisted the help of eBlockwatch – a community-run organisation that attempts to use technology to track and solve crime.

Andre Snyman, founder of eBlockwatch, said video footage is increasingly helping communities combat rogue elements in the police and in government. Snyman is helping Van der Merwe to track down the diplomat and his bodyguards.

“At the moment we are way ahead of criminals, and we urge members of the public to log on to our site and register with us.”

Snyman has set up a network for cyclists through eBlockwatch as incidents of crimes against cyclists appear to be on the rise.

The site managed to track and arrest the rapists of a female cyclist who was attacked by five men near OR Tambo Airport while training.

“It’s a worldwide trend because the digital divide is closing. Everybody has a cellphone. Video footage is catching a lot of criminals out. It’s working beautifully,” he said.

The Brooklyn police were not immediately available for comment.

April 20, 2013 By Sameer Naik

Johannesburg – A month ago, a young Joburg woman fell victim to violent gang rape.

The woman, in her mid-twenties, was riding her bicycle with her husband along the R21 at the R25 off-ramp near Kempton Park when three armed men attacked them.

They took the couple to an open veld. The woman was gang-raped before the suspects robbed them of two bicycles, an iPod and a cellphone.

The suspects were later arrested in Tembisa. It’s understood the group was linked to 10 other incidents where cyclists were robbed.

Bike-jackings, however, continue to occur at an alarming rate in Joburg and the rest of the country.

The most recent bike-jacking occurred on Thursday morning when a man was attacked and robbed of his mountain bike in Groenkloof, Pretoria.

In a bid to cut down on bike-jackings, anti-crime network eblockwatch has launched a community support system for cyclists.

Andre Snyman, head of eblockwatch, said the network had created a Facebook page for cyclists to register themselves on so that all cyclist can be looped together.

“When they’re in trouble, the community members closest to them will be able to help them if they’re in trouble,” said Snyman.

It would require cyclists to register on eblockwatch’s cycle support system for R45 a month. Once cyclists have registered, they will be given specific details as to how the system works.

They will also be given a hotline number to call should they be in danger.

“We will also turn their cellphones into tracking devices to catch those who rob them,” said Snyman.

“The idea is to create a massive cyclist group that will be called on to assist fellow cyclists closest to them if the need ever arises.”

Snyman said that a number of cyclists had already registered with eblockwatch and that the support system had been a success thus far.

“We have managed to nab a good few criminals who have robbed our cyclists,” said Snyman.

“These days bikes are very expensive and can cost anywhere between R5 000 and R90 000, so criminals are now targeting cyclists ever so often.”

Eblockwatch is working together with the SAPS as well as several bike shops around the country, said Snyman.

“We’re also sending our members information on where the bike-jacking hot spots are and information on how cyclists can be safe when riding,” he said.

“Bike shops around Joburg and the rest of the country will assist us in providing information to our members.”

Snyman said that bike-jacking had increased this year at an alarming rate.

“These crimes are happening on a weekly basis, it’s absolutely shocking. “It needs to come to an end. Hopefully the eblockwatch support system will assist in keeping cyclists more safe on the road,” said Snyman.

Snyman has advised all cyclists in the country to always cycle with a partner or in a group.

“It’s very dangerous to cycle all alone,” Snyman said.

March 20, 2013 By Gerhardt Theron

A mountain biker couple had been attacked and the woman raped while riding along the R21 at the R25 off-ramp on Thursday last week.

The woman, in her mid-20s, and a male family member were riding through a tunnel underneath the R21 when three armed men attacked them at about 4.20pm.

“They were tied up and held until it was dark,” said Capt Jethro Mtshali, Kempton Park SAPS spokesman.

The woman was taken away from the man and raped. The suspects fled the scene with the couple’s mountain bikes, two cell phones and an Ipod.

Mr André Snyman, the founder of Eblockwatch and spokesman for the family, said the woman had been hospitalised after the incident and confirmed she had returned to her family at the time of going to print.

This is the third incident in four weeks where cyclists in and around the city were attacked.

Mr Sarel van den Berg was attacked, tied up and robbed on February 21 and another cyclist on March 4. All three attacks took place in the same area, between the R21 highway and Serengeti and behind the Engen Garage next to the R21.

A concerned athlete from Glen Marais, Mrs Bianca Dahl, asked: “What the hell is going on? Are the police aware that people are getting attacked in and around Kempton Park? At what point do we protest and throw over dustbins outside the civic centre?

“Will that get the authorities’ attention as to the plight of cyclists and runners in this town?”

She drives behind her husband when he cycles and says she will not hesitate to drive over a suspect when he attempts to harm anyone of her family or friends.

Snyman said when athletes train in low numbers they should train about 500m apart.

“That way at least one can contact emergency services when an incident does occur,” said Snyman.

Victims are encouraged to expose their experiences at www.eblockwatch.co.za