As police continue to crack down on violent and serious crime, South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola has said several recent high-profile operations and raids “demonstrate the commitment and dedication of our men and women in blue, who relentlessly refuse to give up this fight against crime.”
General Masemola held a media briefing on Thursday, 01 August 2024, giving an update on the work of the South African Police Service. He said high-density operations have been conducted in each province, with their respective Provincial Commissioners “actively taking part and leading operations on the ground.” This has resulted in the arrest of 766 237 suspects. These suspects were arrested for various crimes including 161 752 wanted suspects apprehended for “priority crimes” which include murder, Cash-in-Transit armed robberies, rape, hi-jacking and firearm related offences.
“We have established and beefed up cash-in-transit task teams, particularly in the Eastern Cape, where a number of them have been recorded in the month of July. In the past month alone, 13 cash in transit robbers were arrested in the province while six suspects were fatally wounded during confrontation with police,” General Masemola said.
The police have also registered a breakthrough with the arrest of at least ten suspects linked to ATM bombings in Gauteng. Eight of the suspects were intercepted in Katlehong, Thokoza, and Soweto in Gauteng while another two were traced to Senekal in the Free State.
“These arrests were effected with the assistance of our partners in the banking sector and key stakeholders in the fight against crime. These suspects are being linked to more than 20 ATM bombings that took place in Soweto and the East Rand,” he said.
Drug busts
Intelligence-led operations have resulted in several successful drug busts, with the Commissioner noting “police are intercepting large quantities and consignments of drugs.”
“In a recent success this week, a drug mule was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday morning as he arrived from Brazil. Police were following up on information that the 38- year-old Brazilian national was on an identified flight and was carrying drugs. As soon as the identified aircraft landed, police swooped in and searched the aircraft where they found cocaine worth R1 million in the toilet of the aircraft. The man is expected to appear before the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on a charge of drug trafficking.”
The recent high-profile raid of a “clandestine drug lab worth R2 billion” in Limpopo resulted in 5 arrests, including of three Mexican nationals. The Western Cape saw R252 million worth of cocaine seized through a roadblock in Stillbaai. Among the two suspects arrested was a Russian. SAPS also seized R40 million worth of cannabis (dagga) in the Magaliesburg in Gauteng.
R4 million worth of cocaine and R4 million worth of Crystal meth was seized in different parts of Mpumalanga, including Nelspruit and Komatipoort.
R2 billion worth of drugs have been destroyed in the previous twelve months. This includes cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and unregistered medicines. Operation Shanela has netted 21 161 criminals for dealing drugs, with 64 351 were arrested for possession of drugs.
Gang violence
Ongoing gang-related violence in the Eastern and Western Cape and Gauteng continues to receive priority with the deployment of the Anti Gang Unit and specialised units in identified hotspots, General Masemola said.
“Dedicated interventions are continuing and several gang leaders and members have been arrested in the past six months. These include 64 gang members arrested in Westbury. Thirty-four of them belong to the Fast gang group that were operating in Westbury, Langlaagte and Eldorado Park. During this period, 36 gang members from the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal and Limpopo were convicted to a collective 350 year’s imprisonment,” he said.
Police visibility
The National Commissioner emphasised that heightening and enhancing police visibility as a form of a deterrent to crime is at the top of the SAPS agenda.
“Our ears remain on the ground, and we are well aware that our communities want to see more police officers on the ground. This is why we have recruited and trained 20 000 police officers in two years, who are already serving and protecting communities at grassroots level of policing.
“All these members have capacitated our police stations and various specialised units, including crime intelligence and the detective environment, where capacity is much needed,” he said.
Masemola announced that there are currently 4 500 recruits in training and the remaining 5 500 recruits will commence with training in January 2025.
“Through collaboration with key stakeholders in the fight against crime which includes various government departments and entities, it is our collaboration with private security as our eyes and ears on the ground that is proving to be effective and beneficial. Through our E2 project with private security, we have been able to share resources and intercept criminals jointly, through working together,” he said.
In the last seven days, 106 firearms were confiscated during operations across the country. Forty of these firearms were seized in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Of the 106 firearms, 90 are hand guns, eight are homemade firearms, seven are rifles while one shotgun was seized.
In two years, more than 20 000 firearms have been seized from all corners of the country.
“In the Western Cape where we experience a lot of firearm related gang violence, 3 100 firearms have been confiscated to date while in Gauteng, 673 firearms have been seized during tracing operations during a 12 month period,” he said.
In closing, General Masemola sought to reassure communities SAPS would continue to intensify crime combatting efforts, while calling for communities “to play their part by reporting suspicious activities.” The “message is clear to criminals… Either you hand yourself over to us and lessen our work of tracing you, or we come for you. We will not back down in protecting our communities.”