Gauteng MEC for Community Safety, MEC Faith Mazibuko together with the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, led today’s installment of the safer festive season operations in Sebokeng in the Sedibeng District.
As per the operational concept, activation started the previous night with the tracing and collection of wanted suspects by the Detectives. A total of six hundred and forty one (641) suspects were successfully traced and arrested in the West Rand (42), Sedibeng (77), Johannesburg (170) Ekurhuleni (179) and Tshwane (181).
Ninety six (96) of these suspects were arrested for cases related to gender based violence, which will be prioritized in line with the SAPS stance on violence against women and children. Other suspects were wanted in connection with cases of murder, assault with intention to cause grievous bodily harm, possession of unlicensed firearms, and other serious and violent offences.
Six (6) vehicles, mostly BMW 3-series with tampered engine and/or chassis numbers were impounded for further investigations from two workshops and a panel beater in Vanderbijlpark, following a joint intelligence-led operation by SAPS working with Tracker and Data Dot. The owners were issued with fines for contravention of the Second Hand Goods Act. One suspect was arrested for possession of a BMW 3-Series reported in October 2019 as hijacked in Umbilo.
Still on vehicle crime, four (4) vehicles with foreign registration plates were impounded in Ekurhuleni by SARS Customs for failing to produce the required permits to drive in the country. Two other vehicles also with tampered numbers, were impounded at one of the roadblocks in Sedibeng. Two more vehicles were impounded at a roadblock in Hercules in Tshwane.
In operations conducted in Johannesburg, police in an intelligence driven operation arrested two suspects and recovered two firearms and over 90 cellphones suspected of having been stolen from a sports shop in Randburg.
Also in Johannesburg, an undocumented person was arrested for possession of drugs, while a man claiming to be the suspect’s brother was later arrested for attempting to bribe police officers to release the suspect. This drug related arrest brings to total thirty-one (31) suspects arrested across the Province during O Kae Molao operations.
A total of fifteen (15) liquor outlets were shut down in Tshwane and Sedibeng and volumes of liquor were confiscated together with counterfeit cigarettes, fridges and music systems.
AARTO fines totaling R85000 were issued at roadblocks; while illegal electricity connections were cut off by Eskom at eight (8) houses in Sebokeng.
Gauteng Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela concluded the day’s operations by interacting with shoppers at Thabong Mall in Sebokeng, reassuring members of the public that police would be visible in all places identified as hotspots over the festive season, to ensure that people conduct their business in a safe and secure environment.
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