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Eunice Masson

Eunice Masson is a general news reporter at the Mail & Guardian.

Ganglands: Competition for territory and battles between rival gangs in areas on the Cape Flats such as Bishop Lavis (above) and Valhalla Park have waged for years. South Africa is high on the Global Organised Crime Index for drugs, kidnapping and extortion.
COLIN STANFIELD

The clash of the Numbers gangs

How the 26s, 27s and 28s prison gangs got their name, and how street gangs usurped them

  • Eunice Masson
8 min read
Number’s up: Alleged Cape Town gang leader Ralph Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson were arrested last year on charges of theft, robbery and fraud, but an acting police station commander’s behaviour suggests that gangs have succeeded in infiltrating some police structures.
RALPH STANFIELD

Station commander investigated for links to crime kingpin

There is ‘growing concern’ about increasing levels of gangsterism and organised crime in the Western Cape

  • Eunice Masson
8 min read
Slipping grip: Control over the empire of Ralph Stanfield, who is in jail on charges of theft, robbery and fraud.
NICOLE JOHNSON

A new mob boss for the Mother City?

It is inevitable that alleged gang leader Ralph Stanfield will be replaced. The question is, by who?

  • Eunice Masson
9 min read
A recent study commissioned by the global financial services company, Visa, highlighted that although 93% of minibus taxi passengers still use cash, 56% of them would prefer to use a prepaid card if one was available.
CAPE AMALGAMATED TAXI ASSOCIATION

Brave new minibus taxi world: Cashless and taxed

Brave new minibus taxi world: Cashless and taxed

  • Eunice Masson
8 min read
Deadly: Tiffiney Carolisen (in red) leads a march in Delft after her sister, Aqeelah Schroeder, was killed in 2022. Photo: Brenton Geach/Gallo Images
ACTION SOCIETY

Murder spikes as Delft gangs target child recruits

Gang-related deaths totalled 23 in the first 18 days of September

  • Eunice Masson
6 min read
Unisa vice-chancellor Puleng LenkaBula said on Tuesday that academic facilities at the distance learning institute were “intact and solid”. (Twitter/Unisa)
BLADE NZIMANDE

Actually, Unisa is in good shape, says vice-chancellor

Professor Puleng LenkaBula lauds the distance learning institution, despite a damning report and battle over it being placed under administration

  • Eunice Masson
2 min read
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. Photo: File
AARON MOTSOALEDI

Panel to lead electoral reforms not yet appointed, says home affairs minister

Aaron Motsoaledi dismissed accusations that his office lacked the political will for electoral reform

  • Eunice Masson
2 min read
Sequelae: The Criminal Procedure Act was amended in 1993 to allow ‘dangerous criminals’ to be detained for an indeterminate time. They do not qualify for parole but may be released if a court finds them no longer dangerous. But some men are being re-sentenced instead. Photo: Getty Images
AFRICA CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

When only the court can set you free

Should Brannon Petersen only be reconsidered to be released in August next year, he would have spent 27 years in prison, ten years after his indefinite sentence expired

  • Eunice Masson
8 min read
In January last year, the department of environmental affairs in the Free State and the national department of forestry, fisheries and environment, together with the SPCA, inspected Steilfontein farm, in Petrus Steyn, where several feline predators were held captive. (Pers-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
BARBARA CREECY

Free State captive lion breeder found guilty of cruelty and negligence

The Petrus Steyn breeder on the farm Steilfontein was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment or a fine of R4 000

  • Eunice Masson
3 min read
Mondli Gungubele, has removed the board of directors of the South African Postbank amid allegations of an unlawful contract worth R140 million. (Photo by PRESIDENCY OF SOUTH AFRICA/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
LINDIWE ZULU

Mondli Gungubele says Postbank mass resignation was to avoid accountability for unlawful contract

The minister has been accused by the Postbank board of being treated with hostility, undermined and disrespected

  • Eunice Masson
4 min read
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate is investigating police brutality after a man in Kensington, Cape Town, was allegedly dragged by a vehicle while handcuffed over the weekend.
CAPE TOWN

Ipid investigates man being dragged by police van

Members attached to Kensington police in Cape Town are under investigation for alleged police brutality

  • Eunice Masson
3 min read
The City of Cape Town is proceeding with its land release on the historic Castle bowling green in Woodstock, despite a decision by the Western Cape Heritage council to endorse a heritage impact assessment recommending the land be preserved as urban green space.
CITY OF CAPE TOWN

City engages lawyers in dispute with Woodstock civic group

The Woodstock Residents’ Association received a lawyer’s letter after it questioned the City of Cape Town’s submissions ahead of an appeal process next week

  • Eunice Masson
7 min read
Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema.
ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTER

Julius Malema faces animal cruelty charges

The EFF leader inflicted more than 11 stabs and over 60 instances of twisting a knife into a conscious animal, according to an investigation

  • Eunice Masson
2 min read
Commuters using minibus taxis will not see tariff increases just yet as taxi associations refrain from fare increases despite rising fuel costs.
CAPE AMALGAMATED TAXI ASSOCIATION

Taxi commuters spared tariff hikes for now, despite fuel price surge

Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape refrain from increasing taxi fares but haven’t ruled out the possibility

  • Eunice Masson
3 min read
The National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) is still in a “legislative review process” after its release was halted in February to address the confidentiality and disclosure clauses that prevent public access, the ministry of justice and constitutional development said
BRANNON JONATHAN PETERSEN

Convicted rapist and murderer jailed in 1998, continues bid for parole

Brannon Jonathan Petersen was handed an indeterminate sentence and declared a dangerous criminal after being found guilty of attempted rape, rape and murder

  • Eunice Masson
3 min read
Hawks head General Godfrey Lebeya. (Sunday Times)
CASH IN TRANSIT

Cash-in-transit heists remain ‘a thorn’, Hawks boss Lebeya says after 19 suspects killed in Limpopo

From April to June, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation arrested 27 suspects and secured six convictions related to cash-in-transit heists

  • Eunice Masson
3 min read
A Cape Town Metro Police officer conducts a police search operation in Hannover Park. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images)
AFRICA CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

Shooting blanks a popular choice for gangsters

Criminals have capitalised on the strong visual resemblance that imitation weapons bear to firearms

  • Eunice Masson
7 min read
Luyanda Fuzile was sentenced for the shooting of Sergeant Nametso Ignatius Molema (above) in 2021.(SAPS)
BHEKI CELE

Man linked to police killing in Cape Town gets life in jail

Luyanda Fuzile was sentenced for the shooting of Sergeant Nametso Ignatius Molema in 2021

  • Eunice Masson
2 min read
Photo: Instagram
CAPE TOWN

UPDATED: Cape Town pub cleared after police probe but racism case still before court

Hank’s Olde Irish will now pursue civil and criminal litigation against the accusers

  • Eunice Masson
3 min read
A campaign lorry, featuring Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe’s president, dives onto the field during a Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANUPF) rally at the National Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
CHRIS MAROLENG

Zimbabweans should not expect a democratic outcome in elections – Good Governance Africa

Despite this, the research and advocacy nonprofit encouraged voters to make their mark on Wednesday

  • Eunice Masson
3 min read