Brakpan turns bloody as violence erupts

Interpersonal violence erupted in Brakpan within 72 hours last week with nine serious cases reported to the local SAPS.

According to information received, two cases of attempted murder, four cases of assault with the purpose to inflict grievous bodily harm (GBH) and three cases of common assault were opened at the Brakpan Police Station between Thursday and Saturday.

Attempted murder

• A man driving along Van der Walt Road in Dalview on Thursday at 13:10 was forced off the road by the occupants of a single-cab bakkie and then almost struck by the vehicle.
The two occupants of the bakkie are known to the victim.
He saw the vehicle driving up behind him and then felt the bakkie ‘pushing against’ the back of his vehicle.
When he pulled over and got out of his vehicle, the driver of the bakkie drove towards him in an alleged attempt to hit him.
The victim jumped out of harm’s way, but his driver’s side door was struck.
The estimated damage to the vehicle is R5 5000.

• A woman was shot three times in the presence of her children when she answered a knock at her front door on Thursday evening.
The incident took place at 19:10 at a block of flats along Victoria Avenue.
As the victim opened the door, she saw three men, one of whom was armed with a gun.
The gunman fired a shot and the victim closed the door.
She heard two more gunshots and realised she had been struck in the shoulder, hip and wrist.
The victim then heard the men running away.
She was taken to the hospital for medical treatment.

Assault GBH

• A Dalview man was beaten and stabbed at his Kingsway Avenue home at around 17:30 on Friday.
He was assaulted by three men and a woman, all of whom are known to him.
The victim was slapped, beaten with a stick and stabbed with a knife.

• Police were called to a home along Petrea Avenue in Leachville at 21:00 on Friday after a 33-year-old man was stabbed.
The victim is the nephew of the homeowner, who told the police his nephew arrived at his house after he was allegedly attacked by two men.
It is unclear where the attack took place. The victim was robbed of his cellphone and sustained stab wounds to his head and neck.
He was taken to the Far East Rand Hospital.

• A man beat his girlfriend and attacked her with a knife after accusing her of cheating on him.
The man, who was allegedly intoxicated at the time of the incident on Friday around 23:00, was spending the night at the woman’s Station Road home when he accused her of being unfaithful.
He broke some of her belongings, slapped her and beat her with his fists.
The man then armed himself with a knife, climbed on top of the woman and pressed the weapon against her stomach.
He continued questioning her and pierced the knife into her stomach, causing her to bleed.
The man then allegedly stopped the assault and apologised.
The woman sought help at an address along Gladstone Avenue and was taken to the Far East Rand Hospital, where she was examined.

• A man was beaten with a stick and suffered an abrasion to his forehead after being confronted by a group of six men at his home along Gladstone Avenue.
The man had arrived home on Saturday at 17:30 and left his vehicle parked outside.
When he went to park the car inside the yard around an hour later, he was accosted by the group who asked him what he was doing at the address.
They attacked him and he fell to the ground.
When the man’s girlfriend intervened, she was also beaten.

Common assault

• A woman was beaten by her boyfriend in her Wenden Avenue home at around 10:00 on Friday after she refused to have sex with him.
The victim told the police her boyfriend threw an object at her, grabbed her and then beat her with his fists.

• A man who kicked open a door at a residence along Cavendish Street injured a woman when she was struck by the door.
The victim and her partner were in the bedroom of their flat at around 22:00 on Friday when a man known to them kicked the door open.
She told police she was standing near the door and it hit her head, causing her to collapse.
Paramedics were called to the scene and the victim was taken to the Far East Rand Hospital for observation.

• A woman was assaulted by a man following an argument at an address along Nossob Street in Dalpark during the early hours of Saturday morning.
It is not indicated in the police report whether the pair are a couple.
It is reported that a ‘misunderstanding’ between the two occurred and the man became angry.
He punched the woman in the face and kicked her. He then threw her to the floor and continued to kick her.