Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3 min read | 20:35 pm CAT

After two years of setting fires in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, a suspect has been apprehended. The alleged serial arsonist managed to evade the police for two years, during which time he set fires to several homes in the northern suburbs, sometimes even returning to some of the houses he torched.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, eBlockwatch founder Andre Snyman said that when he first discovered and started putting the links together of the presence of an arsonist. He had received a lot of pushback from security companies saying it was fake news. 

The insurance companies even asked Snyman not to mention his findings. After that, he started working with Carte Blanche, who eventually managed to get a spot of being 100 per cent certain that there was an arsonist out there. 

Unfortunately, he said it got very close to home as the arsonist attacked his neighbour, an elderly couple that had gotten beaten up and was hospitalized while their entire house burnt down. 

“We than decided to go out there and put it in public, we did a program on Carte Blanche, and from there on, the guy became quite aggressive and killed somebody in the next incident,” he says. 

There was a lot of speculation on who the suspect was, and it was known that he had previously been arrested but had authorities had the wrong name. However, with much effort, the arsonist eventually made his mistake, and he was caught and arrested on Tuesday. 

There was an R100 000 reward for any information that would lead to the apprehension of the arsonist, which has played a part. Snyman said Fidelity would honour their promise, and someone would receive the reward. The process has got to go through the court’s operation, and the reward will be paid after the perpetrator’s conviction.

Listen below to the interview with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie and Andre Snyman on Radio Islam’s podcast.