Liquor shop robbed during the weekend - Cosmo City

The suspects are accused of holding up a bottle store in Cosmo City on Saturday, 3 March, and helping themselves to an undisclosed amount of money.

Five suspects are wanted for business robbery. 

The Honeydew Police are on the lookout for five armed suspects who were involved in a business robbery during the weekend.

The suspects are accused of holding up a bottle store in Cosmo City on Saturday, 3 March, and helping themselves to an undisclosed amount of money.

Police spokesperson, Captain Balan Muthan, said the business robbery occurred at Moscow Liquor in Extension 7. “The suspects entered the store as if they were customers, then threatened the staff members and customers with pistols and instructed them to lie down,” he said.

He added that the suspects demanded bottles of whisky and an undisclosed amount of cash from the till and fled the scene.

The escape vehicle was not identified by the victims. Muthan also mentioned that no shots or injuries were reported.

City officials address attacks on EMS personnel

City officials talk about addressing the serious issue of attacks on EMS personnel.

Acting EMS Chief Mhlengi Makhubalo (left) accepts the general salute along with other colleagues and the MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun. 

The opening of the state-of-the-art fire station at Cosmo City on 1 March did not only bring joy to role-players and some community members, but left serious questions about the safety of those employed to serve at the station

The precinct this fire station will serve was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons recently, particularly for the attacks on Joburg Emergency Management Service personnel.

Acting EMS Chief Mhlengi Makhubalo delivers the overview brief.

A group of thugs allegedly hijacked an ambulance in Cosmo City while it responded to an emergency in September last year. Early this year, an ambulance was stoned in Zandspruit while attending to a pregnant woman.

This fire station that also has two ambulances was built to improve response time considering the rapid growth of Cosmo City and neighbouring areas. It remains questionable whether the station will improve the services in those areas though.

MMC for Public Safety Michael Sun shown around the pool at the fire station along with delegates and EMS officials. 

To address this issue, EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi, who has encourages residents on several occasions to report these act of criminality said, “We are looking at working with CPFs that already exist in the communities and making sure that we work with community leaders. We will be conducting our awareness programmes by visiting communities to remind them of the importance of protecting us because if they protect us we will be able to deliver services effectively and quickly,” he explained.

    “But if they continue attacking us, these kinds of attacks will create fear and panic among emergency services personnel who are supposed to respond to the call-outs. This would also disrupts service delivery and will mean that every time we have to respond to an emergency, we will go via a police station to get a police escort, which will affect our response times,” he further explained.


The acting EMS Chief Mhlengi Makhubalo added that the MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun should intervene to address the matter as the police need their vehicles for their own purposes. Fortunately, the fire station is situated opposite the Cosmo City Satellite Police Station.

MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun is shown the new fire engine.

In response, Sun said they were alarmed by the attacks, saying, “It started out as theft from ambulances and fire engines, but has escalated to physical assaults where they actually hijack the EMS personnel”.

He added that hot spots have been identified. “Our EMS team has gone out to the hot spots to engage the community leaders to remind them that these equipment, vehicles and staff members from EMS are here to serve and save their lives in an emergency. They need to help us by not only protecting us but also to identify unsavoury elements, so when we are doing our job we are protected by the residents,“ Sun explained to Cosmo City Housing Reporters.

Cosmo City Fire Station successfully opened

The building of the station started in the 2013/14 financial year and was completed in November last year.

MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun, delivering the keynote address during the opening of the Cosmo City Fire Station. 

 Early yesterday morning protest outside the new Cosmo City Fire Station was contained by law enforcement officers, making it possible to continue with the opening of the fire station after the arrival of the City of Joburg’s MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun, who delivered the keynote address on 1 March.

This state of the art, fully equipped facility, including an ambulance emergency unit which overall cost the City R33,5 million to build was celebrated and welcomed by many delegates of the City and residents who supported this idea.


The building of the station started in the 2013/ 14 financial year and was completed in November last year. The acting chief of the Emergency Management Services, Mhlengi Makhubalo, gave a brief overview of the reasons for the building of this facility.

    “This area was developed in 2008/ 9, and created a challenge in terms of our response time. We measure our response time to the community in terms of responding to fire calls,” he said.

    The public protest outside the new fire station. 

Makhubalo explained that area received services from various surrounding stations which at times did not meet the response time. “In terms of responding to fire calls, we must respond within 12 minutes and when we look into medical incidents, we must respond in nine minutes, but because the fire engines and ambulances were responding from different fire stations such as Hunters Hill, Randburg, Lonehill and Diepsloot, responding within a reasonable time was a challenge. This fire station thus had to be built to address the needs of the community as it continues to grow and develop,” he said, adding that in order for businesses to be attracted in the community, a strong emergency unit was needed.

Besides being situated in the community of Cosmo City, the fire station will also assist Zandspruit, Lanseria Airport, the North-West and trucks ferrying hazardous substances. Acting EFF councillor Donald Mabunda was excited that Zandspruit will benefit since it is no secret that fires break often break out there, especially during winter.

Sun, in his keynote address, made it clear that putting together this project was not an overnight job, saying, “This happy and joyous occasion did not come dropping from the sky, it required many hours, months and years of extremely hard work. We were put under strict oversight by the Section 79 committee, which really held us to account when it came to this station,”


    A brand new fire engine and two ambulances were handed over by the City. Sun said when the City received three new ambulances they decided to bring one to Cosmo City. Understanding the dire need for emergency services in the rapidly growing community.

    Sun said, “We understand that two ambulances may not be enough but we are working on getting two more so that at least we can achieve the service level of a thousand people to one ambulance.”

    MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun, delivering the keynote address during the opening of the Cosmo City Fire Station. 

According to Sun, the building of fire stations has resulted in many more successes, reducing the number of fatalities to half of the 2016 figure.

MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun observes the hoisting of the flags. 

Sun and other delegates from the City were taken on a site visit, during which they were shown the entire facility, which includes a swimming pool, that will be used by personnel to conduct rescue training and also be used to teach children how to swim.

COSMOCITY-Locals protest against the opening of Cosmo City Fire Station Uncertain if event will continue

Protesters in front of the Cosmo City Fire Station.

The official opening of the Cosmo City Fire Station has been interrupted by a protest action by local residents who blockaded the entrance to the premises this morning, 1 March.



About 50+ residents staged a protest in front of the Fire Station on South Africa Drive, preventing Joburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba, from officially opening the station, saying that they want the building to be run by residents of Cosmo City since the station was built by the previous administration.

It was unclear whether the event would take place, as residents continue to chant in front of the entrance. In the meantime, Johannesburg Metro Police Department officers are on scene monitoring the tense situation.

Protesters in front of the Cosmo City Fire Station.

Yay or Nay: Rate police services HONEYDEW – Rate the police’s services.

The survey form.

The Honeydew Police Station has now made it possible for the public to rate its service delivery.

The survey, as well as suggestion boxes, will be found at all police stations under the Honeydew police cluster such as Douglasdale, Diepsloot, Roodepoort, Zandspruit, Cosmo City, Randburg and Florida police stations.

The community can detail their experiences at the station and how the services can be improved.

Spokesperson for Honeydew Police Station, Balan Muthan said the survey is for the community to make their voices heard and for the police to give feedback on complaints and comments.

“We encourage the community to take a minute or two to fill in the survey and rate services received whether positive or negative. This will help us improve the way we help the community,” said Muthan.

Details: Honeydew Police Station 011 801 8400.

To become a member of the Honeydew SAPS WhatsApp community, send your name and surname to 079 439 5345

Joburg official fired after swindling Cosmo City community over ‘free’ nursing classes

The scam started when Ekhaya Health Centre‚ a training college‚ approached Cosmo City Multipurpose Centre in order to obtain the use of the centre for the provision of nursing classes which were to be offered to the community.  Services offered through the City’s community centres are free to the public, so the agreement with Ekhaya was that their training would also be free.  After a few months it emerged that the now former city employee had colluded with Ekhaya management to demand money from prospective students.  Seven students paid R36,000 for training‚ but never completed their studies after classes were suspended.  The former employee allegedly received R18,000 as part of the deal.  Mashaba has demanded an explanation as to why the employee was allowed to tender a resignation and serve notice rather than face a disciplinary hearing, while the city will seek to open a criminal case.

Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba's vow to fight corruption in the Democratic Alliance-led metro appears to be yielding positive results – at least for now.

Mashaba announced on Monday that an employee is his administration was dismissed after allegedly being involved in a scam which swindled residents of Cosmo City.

"I will not allow a situation where corrupt employees are allowed to resign without facing internal disciplinary procedures. Where corruption is uncovered‚ swift action must be taken. The city will seek to open a criminal case and ensure that those implicated face the full might of the law‚" Mashaba said.

This follows a breakthrough of a scam that started when Ekhaya Health Centre‚ a training college‚ approached Cosmo City Multipurpose Centre officials in order to obtain the use of the centre for the provision of nursing classes which were to be offered to the community.

As per norm‚ services offered through the City of Joburg community centres are free to the public. The agreement entered into with Ekhaya Health Centre was based on an understanding that their training would also be free‚ the mayor said.

Mashaba said that after a few months it emerged that the now former city employee colluded with Ekhaya Health Centre management and demanded money from prospective students.

"Seven students paid R36 000 for training‚ but never completed their studies after classes were suspended. It also emerged that the former employee allegedly received R18 000 as part of the deal. Today‚ I called for immediate action to be taken‚" Mashaba said.

"I am also demanding a detailed explanation from the Executive Head of Social Development and line managers as to why the implicated employee was allowed to tender a resignation and serve notice‚" he added.

He also promised the students' families which were affected by this to retrieve their money.

When Mashaba was sworn in as Johannesburg mayor‚ he promised to address the city's "public enemy number one – corruption" and set the tone for a business-like approach to fixing Johannesburg's problems.

To date‚ there has been at least five city officials that have been fired by Mashaba since ascending to the mayoral seat.  

COSMO CITY 2 homes robbed an hour apart Honeydew Police Station investigate two house robberies in the precinct.

 Honeydew Police Captain Balan Muthan

Honeydew Police are investigating two house robberies in Cosmo City during which the occupants of the two homes in Ext 6 and 4 respectively were held at gunpoint.

Police spokesperson Captain Balan Muthan dissected both incidents committed an hour apart on Wednesday 24 January, saying no shots or injuries were reported. Understandably the victims were left shaken.

Also Read: Two businesses robbed in one go

The first incident happened about 8.45pm in Ext 6, according to Muthan. “The complainant was watching television when two intruders entered the house through an unlocked door; one armed with a firearm and the other unarmed. They unplugged the television, demanded two cellphones and left the house,” said Muthan.

The second incident happened after 9pm in Ext 4. “Three black males – two armed with firearms and one with a knife – threatened the occupants of the house.

    They robbed them of three watches, four cellphones and an undisclosed amount of cash,” Muthan reported.

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