Province will be crime-free this season
New acting provincial police commissioner swears to keep province safe this festive season.
MBOMBELA – The N4 running through Mpumalanga, connecting Gauteng with neighbouring countries, will be a no-go zone for any illegal activity during the festive season.
This was the message of Maj Gen Meshack Nogwanya during his introduction as acting provincial police commissioner on Monday.
“The police’s readiness and vigilance during this festive season should not be underestimated,” said Nogwanya. “Since we started the festive season build-up programme on 6 October, 697 suspects have been arrested in numerous operations. We will continue by ensuring no illegal material crosses the border into Mpumalanga.”
Operations High Density and Basathi are some of the programmes to be implemented under the watchful guard of Nogwanya.
Operation High Density is a lockdown plan on areas with concentrated crime activity. “In Mbombela, for example, Anderson Street and its surroundings will not become the next Hillbrow with its drug and illegal sexual activities,” said Nogwanya.
“At any given moment, for a few hours, we will surround the area and no one will be able to get in or out until we have finished searching every corner for illegalities.”
Operation Basathi is focused on sexual assault against women. “We want to double the number of 697 arrests when it comes to this,” he said.
“There are far too many cases of sexual violence and it must stop. We will stop at nothing to keep our females safe.”
