Johannesburg: The South African Police Service (SAPS) in Gauteng continues to intensify the fight against crime through Operation Shanela with more than 900 suspects arrested over the weekend.
According to South African Government News Agency, Operation Shanela is conducted simultaneously across all five districts of Gauteng and consists of two key phases, namely the tracing and arrest of wanted suspects and crime prevention operations. The first phase, which focuses on the tracing of wanted suspects by detectives, resulted in the arrest of 735 wanted suspects. This includes 422 suspects linked to contact crimes and 148 suspects wanted for crimes committed against women and children. SAPS stated that the arrests demonstrate the continued efforts by Gauteng detectives to pursue suspects linked to serious and violent crimes and ensure that they are brought before the courts to face the allegations against them.
The second phase of the operation focuses on crime prevention and the disruption of criminal activities. It includes various crime prevention actions such as roadblocks, high-visibility patrols, stop-and-searches, liquor compliance inspections, and other intelligence-driven interventions. These crime prevention operations resulted in additional arrests, including 98 suspects for contravening the Immigration Act, 69 suspects for driving under the influence of alcohol, 23 suspects for possession of drugs, 14 suspects for contravening the Gauteng Liquor Act, and other suspects arrested for offences including possession of unlicensed firearms, possession of suspected stolen property, and possession of gold-bearing material, amongst others.
SAPS Gauteng Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Fred Kekana, welcomed the gains yielded from the operation and commended the multidisciplinary teams from SAPS, other law enforcement agencies, the Department of Home Affairs, private security companies, and Community Policing Forums for their continued efforts to fight crime. The SAPS in Gauteng will continue conducting Operation Shanela operations across the province, with a particular focus on serious and violent crimes, crimes against women and children, illegal firearms, drugs, unlawful immigration, alcohol-related offences, and other identified crime threats.
Report information on criminal activities through the appropriate SAPS reporting channels including the Crime Stop Line at 08600 10111 or MySapsApp which can be downloaded on any smartphone.
