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The suspects were handcuffed during Operation Shanela conducted across the province.
Picture: Gallo Images/Frennie Shivambu
Gauteng police have arrested more than one thousand suspects and seized scores of firearms in just three days.
The suspects were handcuffed during Operation Shanela, conducted across the province between 20 and 22 June 2025.
Arrests
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo said the police in Gauteng arrested 1 032 suspects during the operation.
He said officers also recovered 21 unlicensed firearms during this period.
“78 of these suspects were arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol while 786 were arrested by the detectives during the tracing of wanted suspects. Other suspects were arrested at the roadblocks and during the raiding of illegal liquor outlets”.
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Firearms
Masondo said Gauteng provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni led another integrated Operation Shanela in West Rand on Saturday evening.
“This resulted in the arrest of 79 suspects, of whom more than 20 were arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Parallel Operations were conducted in Tshwane, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Sedibeng Districts, where 167 suspects were arrested.
“In an effort to deal with the proliferation of firearms in Gauteng, police recovered 21 firearms, which include automatic rifles. These firearms will be taken for ballistics tests to establish if they were not used in the commission of other serious and violent crimes.” Masondo said.
Courts
Masondo added that the arrested suspects are expected to appear at various Magistrate Courts in Gauteng on Monday, 23 June 2025, while others were released after paying admission of guilt fines.
GBV arrests
On Friday police said a total of 201 rape suspects were arrested over 10 days during operations across the country.
The arrests follow the police’s efforts in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide.
Among the arrested were a 48-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman who allegedly sexually abused their two daughters, aged three and eight, in Bloubergstrand, Western Cape.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda van Wyk said police also seized multiple electronic devices during their arrest.
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