Three bodies found within days in Macassar

A third body has been found in Macassar, in a space of a week.

The latest body was found on Thursday, after 4pm, was discovered on Macassar Road in Macassar. The police’s Wesley Twigg said a passer-by discovered the body floating in a pool of water. He added that the body had no visible injuries and a post-mortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

Last Saturday, 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.

A day later, the body of a man that is suspected to have been stabbed to death was found in the bushes on Macassar Road. Police confirmed the incident saying the deceased was found with multiple stab wounds to the face and neck, believed to be inflicted [by] a broken bottle. The cause of death and motive, says Western cape police, are yet to be determined.

PICTURE: Pixabay

Ward 109 councillor, Peter Helfrich, says Macassar is becoming a hotspot for dumping bodies and blames it on the power crisis the ward is experiencing.

Helfrich wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa in May, asking to intervene in the situation.

“At this stage, we do not know if either of these individuals is from the area, or if they may have been murdered somewhere else and dumped here. What is quite alarming, is the fact that people saw fit to dump these bodies where they did.” said Peter Helfrich, Ward 109 councillor.

“It is not the first time bodies have been found dumped here. Macassar seems to be becoming a dumping hotspot for bodies. It will be amiss of me to not point out that these incidents seem to take place while we experience load-shedding and extended power outages,’’

“Macassar has been facing a power crisis and criminals take advantage of this. 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,’’ he added.

PICTURE: Pixabay

Frustrated Helfrich also blamed Police Minister, Bheki Cele, for the lack of resources at its local police station. According to the ward councillor, he wrote to the Cele in 2022, but is still awaiting response.

“I also place the blame for the increase in crime and murders in our ward squarely on the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele. Last year I wrote to the Minister to ask him to provide our local SAPS station with more resources and manpower to capacitate them to do their job more effectively. They should be capacitating our local police station to ensure that they can operate at full capacity, which will also allow them to be more visible. The Minister’s office promised to come back to us after I wrote to him. They never did.” – said councillor, Peter Helfrich

“When you leave your home in the morning, there is no guarantee that you will make it home safely again. It feels like we are in a war zone with no one to protect us. We are forgotten and no one cares. Our councillor, Peter Helfrich, has, since his inception as ward councillor, been fighting for more police resources, but it seems like it is falling on deaf ears. Why are we being ignored by the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele?,’’ asked Felicity Solomons community activist.

 

Done By: Mitchum George