Fourth body dumped in Macassar in one week

Yet another dumped body has been discovered in the Macassar area. This brings the total to four bodies that have been found in the span of 7 days.

No arrests have yet been made. Macassar ward councillor Peter Helfrich says the town has become a dumping site, as bodies continue to pile up. He blames it on a combination of failures by Eskom and SAPS to provide the services they are required to deliver.

THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS

On Saturday, 27 May 2023, the body of an unidentified woman, who is suspected to be in her thirties, was found floating in shallow water on Macassar beach. The body was discovered by a fisherman at around 7 am that morning.

In the second incident, the body of a man that is suspected to have been stabbed to death was found in the bushes on Macassar Road, on Sunday, 28 May 2023.

In a third incident, on Thursday, 1 June 2023, at around 4:30pm, a cadaver was found floating in a pool of water on Macassar Road, Macassar.

“From what we understand, the body had no visible injuries and a post-mortem now has to be conducted,” says Helfrich.

In the latest incident, on Saturday, 3 June 2023 another body was found dumped in the same vicinity (again on Macassar Road, Macassar).

The Police’s sergeant Wesley Twigg says they’ve have opened an inquest docket:

“Macassar police attended to a crime scene in Macassar Road, Macassar, where the body of a 35-year-old man was discovered by a member of the public. An inquest was registered for investigation and a post-mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death. Anyone with any information about this incident can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.”

Helfrich says it is unclear whether the victims were murdered in the area. He insists criminals are taking advantage of the power crisis the area has been experiencing. The town sees continued prolonged bouts of load shedding, which is mainly due to electricity vandalism, cable theft and aged electricity infrastructure.

“The power crisis, coupled with the fact that we are serviced by a police station that is wholly under-resourced, has directly resulted in the escalation of crime in the area,” says Helfrich.

The Macassar Community Policing Forum’s PRO Russel Williams says increased police visibility is urgently required to help quell crime.

bodies pile up in macassar — Community leaders say criminals are taking advantage of the prolonged power outages. Image credit: Macassar CPF

SOLUTIONS TO THE HELP DEAL WITH THE ISSUES

“I would encourage the public to join the neighbourhood watches and report matters. Then from SAPS side, they need to beef up their visibility more. The same goes for the other stakeholders, like Metro Police and Law Enforcement. Increased visibility will help us tremendously,” says Williams.

He also wants power utility, Eskom to help.

“They need to come to the party by fixing their old building that has been here for more than 40 years. You need to update and upgrade your infrastructure, so that we can have normal load shedding and continue as normal people, without having these extended outages,” adds Williams.

Just last week, Police minister Bheki Cele revealed that more than 6 200 people were killed between January and March, equating to nearly 70 murders daily.