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Cops find human organs in buckets
What started as a routine crime prevention operation ended in a gruesome discovery after Johannesburg Metro Police officers uncovered two buckets allegedly containing human organs alongside a hijacked government vehicle at a home in Naledi, Soweto.
The chilling discovery was made on Thursday evening when officers from the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department’s (JMPD) Tactical Response Unit followed up on information about a vehicle allegedly being stripped at a house on Nape Street.
According to JMPD spokesperson Superintendent Xolani Fihla, officers arrived at the property to find the gate open and the front door partially ajar.
“After discovering the front door of the house half-open and receiving no response to their knocks, officers entered the premises,” said Fihla.
Inside the house, officers found a man who told them the vehicle they were looking for was in the garage and belonged to the homeowner.
“After officers identified themselves and stated their purpose, the suspect indicated that the vehicle in question was located in the garage and belonged to the homeowner,” Fihla said.
Police searched the garage and found a white Volkswagen Caddy belonging to the National Department of Health. A database check revealed the vehicle had been hijacked and was already being stripped for parts.
“A verification check confirmed that the vehicle had been positively flagged as hijacked and was already in the process of being stripped,” Fihla said.
As officers continued searching the property, they found a second suspect hiding in the backyard. But the biggest shock was yet to come.
During a further search, police allegedly discovered two buckets containing what are believed to be human organs, reportedly including hearts and lungs. The horrific find has now sparked a major investigation involving both the JMPD and the South African Police Service.
The two suspects have been arrested and detained at Naledi SAPS. They face charges of possession of a hijacked vehicle and possession of human organs while investigators work to determine where the organs came from and trace the property’s owner.
Fihla praised the officers involved in the operation, saying: “The JMPD commends the outstanding and vigilant work of the officers who executed this operation. Investigations are ongoing as SAPS and JMPD work to establish the origin of the human organs and locate the homeowner.”
Economy
Vegetables disappear from South African plates when winter hits
As temperatures drop, breakfasts become toast instead of tomatoes, lunches lean towards bread and soup, and hearty dinners replace lighter meals. It’s an entirely human response to winter, but one that can leave vegetables falling further down the shopping list.
Every winter, South Africans naturally gravitate towards warm, comforting meals, but in the process, vegetables are often the first thing to disappear from the plate. Tenderstem® broccoli believes the solution isn’t convincing people to abandon comfort food but making it easier to build vegetables into the meals they’re already cooking. Convenience is the real fix: making the healthy choice the easy one. It is the thinking behind an approach that encourages South Africans to include quick-cooking vegetables such as Tenderstem® broccoli, which needs only a few minutes to prepare and can be added straight into meals already on the stove, rather than requiring a separate dish of their own.
Cold weather tends to draw us towards warm, filling foods, with bread, pasta and other carbohydrate-heavy favourites often becoming the easiest choice. The problem is not the comfort food. It is what gets pushed aside to make room for it.
The nutritional data reflects this pattern. According to South Africa’s National Nutrition Week, adults in this country already consume an average of around 230g of fruit and vegetables daily, which is just 58% of the internationally recommended 400g intake. That is the baseline in any season. In winter, when lighter meals feel less appealing and hot, filling food becomes the natural choice, vegetables can become even easier to overlook.
Diets low in fruit and vegetables are associated with a greater risk of non-communicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Winter also coincides with South Africa’s flu season, making a varied diet especially relevant. Vitamin C and folate both contribute to normal immune function and can be found in a range of fresh vegetables.
The answer does not require complicated dietary changes or extra time in the kitchen. It starts with building greens into the meals people are already eating.
Start the week differently
One practical way to improve winter nutrition is to remove the daily decision. A vegetable egg bake or frittata, prepared on a Sunday evening and portioned into the fridge, provides a filling breakfast containing protein, vegetables and fibre for several days. On a cold weekday morning, having something ready to reheat makes the nutritious choice the convenient one.
Brassica greens work particularly well in this format because they hold their texture when baked and release less water than softer vegetables such as courgette or spinach. Tenderstem® broccoli can be added whole, requires no trimming and is edible from floret to stem. Fold a generous handful into whisked eggs, add cheese if desired and bake at 180°C for 20 to 25 minutes. Once portioned, it can be reheated in minutes.
It also answers a familiar winter problem. Breakfast often defaults to buttered toast, cereal or a rusk when the weather is cold and time is short. Preparing a vegetable-based protein option in advance changes that routine without adding pressure to the morning.
Add to what you already cook
Quick-cooking green vegetables can be added to soups, curries and lentil dishes in the final few minutes of cooking, making them an easy part of familiar winter meals.
The key is to choose a vegetable that holds its texture, works with robust flavours and requires little preparation. Tenderstem® broccoli cooks in three to five minutes and can be used from floret to stem. Add it to a butter chicken or lamb curry shortly before serving, stir it through soup or place it in a roasting tray with the roast for the final ten minutes of cooking. Even a grilled cheese sandwich can make room for a few green stems.
Each option fits into a meal that is already being prepared, without requiring a separate dish or additional washing up. An 80g serving counts as one of your five-a-day and is high in vitamin C and folate, which contribute to normal immune function. It also provides fibre, potassium and vitamin B6. “People do not stop caring about nutrition in winter. They choose food that feels warm, filling and manageable. The easiest way to keep vegetables on the menu is to build them into those familiar meals rather than treating them as a separate side dish,” explains Elise Ruddle, Chef and Nutritionist, South African brand representative for Tenderstem®.
Winter eating does not need to become a contest between comfort and nutrition. The more realistic answer is to make vegetables part of the comfort food itself. When greens belong in the curry, soup, breakfast bake or toasted sandwich, eating them no longer depends on anyone feeling virtuous.
