A group of eMbalenhle community members gathered outside the Evander Magistrate’s Court today demanding justice for a 24-year-old woman who was brutally murdered in Extension 18 An article by Ridge Times states that according to reports three people allegedly robbed the victim of her cellphone and other belongings before stabbing her with a knife in the early hours of Saturday The critically injured woman was rushed to a local clinic Outraged community took matters into their own hands apprehending the trio on the same day and alerting the police Officers found the deceased’s cellphone in one of the suspects’ rooms leading to their arrest and subsequent murder charges demanding that the court deny them bail and ensure swift prosecution Authorities continue to investigate the case while residents urge law enforcement to take a stronger stance against violent crime in the area Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal Read original story on www.citizen.co.za A 31-year-old police constable has been arrested after surrendering to police in eMbalenhle yesterday According to Mpumalanga police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jabu Ndubane two bodies were discovered yesterday near a cattle kraal An elderly woman found the men lying a few metres apart next to the road One victim initially responded to the woman but later became unresponsive and Emergency Medical Services certified both men dead at the scene Preliminary investigations revealed the victims were hired to work at the home of the constable’s cousin “A TV was allegedly stolen from the property prompting the cousin to seek assistance from the constable in recovering the stolen item,” says Ndubane It is alleged the constable and an accomplice assaulted the victims and left them at the scene. The police constable was off duty at the time, according to Ridge Times and the case has been referred to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate for further investigation A parallel internal investigation is also underway The acting Mpumalanga police commissioner In incidents where crime is alleged to have been committed such matters should be reported to the police rather than taking the law into one’s own hands,” he says The constable is expected to appear in court soon Read original story on www.citizen.co.za More than 20 taxis have been vandalized in eMbalenhle and Evander, Mpumalanga taxi violence, Ridge Times reports Police are currently at Blue Rank and had given those inside five minutes to move out A taxi driver was shot dead at the Blue Rank in a clash between the police and the Vukanini Taxi Association Some taxi drivers are receiving medical attention from paramedics It is alleged that they were shot by the police The media made several attempts to get hold of Brig Leonard Hlathi The ongoing clash between police and taxi drivers erupted on Tuesday afternoon in eMbalenhle after taxi drivers allegedly impounded two buses belonging to Megabus Police intervened and escorted the buses to a place of safety The police’s tactical response team was activated to intervene when shots were allegedly fired in the clash Drivers closed the intersection near the Mall@Emba with burning tyres with the R546 between eMbalenhle and Standerton declared a no-go zone for motorists and commuters on Wednesday morning Trucks parked across the road to Sasol’s Charlie 3 entrance as well as in other parts of the township A second truck at Charlie 3 was set alight at about midnight Alf Byleveldt from Jelani Security was just in time to bring the fire under control in the cabin of the petrol tanker before it spread The Govan Mbeki municipal fire brigade extinguished the blaze Roads in the township were also strewn with rocks and debris this morning The intersection at Ext 12 and the road towards Graceland was also blocked off police began clearing some of the roads that were blocked Megabus then later came under attack in front of the Gert Sibande College’s Evander campus The windows of two buses were smashed before the vehicles made it to safety a gang of men jump out of a taxi and move in on a bus https://www.facebook.com/echoridgenewspapers/videos/901393896956324/ A police officer was also shot in the arm and was taken to the hospital It is alleged he was shot near Blue Rank next to the mall the chairperson for Vukanini Taxi Association said the situation in eMbalenhle got out of hand after police contravened a resolution that was taken in a mediation meeting that was held on Monday He said it was resolved that buses would transport only learners until the matter is resolved they were shocked when they saw police escorting buses carrying workers from Sasol He said Vukta retaliated because this was against the resolution Sibanyoni said Vukta did not intend to be violent the association will be meeting the MEC for community safety “We just had a meeting with the taxi owners to tell them that they must instruct their drivers to go back [to] work He said taxis would be operating and urged police to stop shooting at them https://www.facebook.com/echoridgenewspapers/videos/520741378571259/ Read original story on ridgetimes.co.za Home | South Africa are crying foul over worsening spilling sewage in their community The concerned residents say the situation poses a serious health hazard They say the spillages do not only lead to a foul smell but also spill into their yards and even houses They have accused the Govan Mbeki Local Municipality of not doing much to fix the problem Raw sewage flows from manholes to the streets and homesteads Some of the residents say their health is in serious danger as the situation worsens by the day “The whole area in Embalenhle is the same thing that is happening All the drains are not fixed and we have been reporting this to the municipality and even the councillors The councilor doesn’t even attend to this situation decided to go further because we have been reporting this So we took another step so that we can resolve these issues.” says they have sought the intervention of the provincial and national governments Zuma says more than R1 billion has since been allocated to them to address the issue “We have been allocated a budget of about R1.1 billion to resolve all challenges of Embalenhle That includes the upgrading of the waste treatment plant also construction of the last pump station and then the network that moves towards that particular area But while we have not reached the stage of implementation we are assisting communities with regards to trying to suck out the manholes with the wastewater that is there But we must indicate it’s a bit of a strain because it’s a lot of communities and it’s hitting hard on the budget of the municipality because we have to rent trucks on almost daily basis to try and bring relief to our communities.” The Govan Mbeki Municipality was found guilty of water pollution and violating environmental acts The municipality was fined R200 million and further ordered to repair certain infrastructure before December 2026 Zuma says they have made progress in that regard “We have done relatively well with regards to other areas we almost do not have any form of spillage on the basis that all the pump stations that we have constructed and upgraded are functional The only thing that remains is that we have to do a lot of work to make sure that we are able to make sure that what remains also will be the upgrade of the waste treatment plant All pump stations are currently functional You’ll remember that when you were last here we were still in the process of appointing service providers for the upgrading and revamping of those pump stations but we would have been more excited if we were able even to have started with the implementation of the upgrading of the Embalenhle waste treatment plant.” the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has appointed a task team to assist municipalities to improve their sewer systems we have seen the challenges coming back and the management of the sewer I’ve since established a team led by Dr Ntiwane and as well as the human settlement site so that they begin to look at what best can we do and how much resources can we advance to do that The other challenge is to make sure that the pipes we also discourage communities to deposit any instrument that we are not supposed to do Some of the areas we found inside the sewers are blockages and that’s therefore created spillages across our municipalities we do have a plan and we’ll be presenting these plans to the exco of the province in making sure that we assist the municipalities further moving forward.” residents of Embalenhle have called on government to quickly come up with a permanent solution