By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
SA Police Services (SAPS) have launched a manhunt following an armed robbery at the home of a prominent South African academic, educator and veteran politician Dr. Naledi Pandor on Friday evening.
Fullview learnt that three balaclava-clad men stormed the family’s home at around 21:30 in Pretoria north.
They fled with the family’s car, iPhones, television sets, and a laptop.
The car was later found abandoned in Mamelodi East.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said suspects held occupants at gunpoint before ransacking the property and fleeing with valuables.
She said Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, the new acting police commissioner, has called for a manhunt following the incident.
“Police are working around the clock to trace and apprehend those responsible.”
“The District Commissioner of Tshwane, Major General Samuel Thine, will visit the family to provide an update on the progress of investigations as well as ongoing policing interventions aimed at combating housebreaking and property-related crimes, added Mathe.
Dimpane reiterated that while police statistics between January and March recorded a decrease in housebreaking incidents nationally, such incidents remain a priority for the SAPS and will continue to receive focused attention.
The latest crime data, covering January to March 2026, shows murders dropped by 9.5% compared to the same period last year, from 5,727 to 5,181 cases. Violent contact crimes overall declined by 4.6%, while house robberies fell by 20.4% and business robberies by 18.3%.
Pandor served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the African National Congress (ANC) from 1994 to 2024. She became a member of the national cabinet in 2004 as minister of education, a position she held under presidents Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe.
She was appointed minister of science and technology in 2009, followed by minister of home affairs in 2012. She returned to the science and technology portfolio from 2014 to 2018, before becoming minister of higher education and training in 2018 and minister of international relations and cooperation from 2019 to 2024.
Meanwhile the Commission’s Recommendations Task Team (CRTT) has arrested a Captain attached to the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory on charges of defeating the ends of justice.
The suspect was arrested on Friday, at his residence in Pretoria following investigations by the task team.
The arrest relates to allegations of defeating the ends of justice in several high-profile murder cases currently under investigation as well as evidence before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.