On a cold morning law enforcers lined up in front of the Kagiso Mall in preparation for another Operation Okae Molao, this time in Kagiso.
During the operation led by South African Police Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, Police Public Safety, SANDF, Gauteng Provincial Police, JMPD and other stakeholders arrested wanted suspects, held roadblocks, raised awareness and clamped down on illegal mining among others.
Mawela called Thursday’s operation a success. See some of the operation here:
On Thursday, 28 January, during the roadblock on Impala Road, one man was arrested for being in possession of drugs. A police member noticed a man on a motorcycle acting suspiciously and pulled him over. While searching him they found a bag with a substance and three straws.
The man was arrested, and the substance confiscated and sent for testing. While vehicles were checked for roadworthiness and valid licences, the detectives continued with their week-long operation to arrest wanted suspects, and by Thursday they already had 30 people in custody.
One person was arrested at the roadblock when he was found driving a stolen vehicle. The people who were arrested at the roadblock as well as a number of undocumented foreign nationals were transported to the Kagiso Police Station where they were processed.
Nonhlanhla Dlamini, Acting Director of the Gauteng Department of Community Safety Western Corridor, also spent the morning educating motorists on road safety and encouraging them to adhere to Covid-19 health protocols.
Teams then moved on to illegal mining sites. Police had to use tear gas in some of the illegal mining shafts to force the illegal miners to come out after fleeing into the shafts when they saw the police.
Mawela explained that police conducted an operation the previous Saturday, 23 January and arrested nine people and confiscated 14 generators. He said that it was shocking to see that by the Thursday they already had new tools and were operating again.
The illegal mining operations are a great concern to the community but, he added, until all stakeholders worked together to rehabilitate the area properly, operations like these would only bring a temporary reprieve.
Another arrest was made in Kagiso where police confiscated home-brewed alcohol.
