Cops clampdown in north
Of the hundreds of people who were arrested, over 50 people were arrested over gender-based violence.
At least 300 people were arrested during an overnight operation “O Kae Molao” conducted by police officers in the north of Pretoria between Wednesday evening and Thursday.
Tshwane district commissioner Major-General Hilda Mohajane said 349 suspects were arrested during the roadblock in Rachel de Beer Street, in the Heatherdale area, north of Pretoria.
The police kicked off the operation by first tracing wanted suspects for different crime categories.
“Of those 349 suspects arrested, 58 were for gender-based violence,” Mohajane said.
Others were arrested on charges of murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and hijackings.
“We chose to have our operation in the Akasia and Pretoria North area because we are experiencing a lot of problems with car hijackings and house robberies,” Mohajane said, adding that theft out of motor vehicles was also on the rise.
While hundreds of people were arrested during the operation, it got off to a rocky start when the community of Nkandla, a nearby informal settlement, allegedly attacked police officers.
“We did not have any casualties and no injuries to both the community members and our members,” she said.
Additional police were dispatched to the scene while the situation remained calm.
Meanwhile, during the roadblock, a total of 31 people were arrested for allegedly being in the country illegally and 14 others for possession of drugs.
At Nkandla informal settlement, a total of four illegal shebeens were closed down, a suspected stolen vehicle was recovered and fines were issued for shops that were not compliant.
A police van full of dagga was also confiscated during a search around various sections of the informal settlement.
“Gauteng traffic police also issued 140 tickets to the value of R59 000,” Mohajane said.
Despite the numerous arrests and tickets which were issued, the district commissioner commended people stopped during the roadblock for adhering to current regulations related to the national lockdown, particularly for wearing masks in public.
“Our community is complying with the disaster management act as we have not had to warn a single person to wear their mask and all the taxis we stopped were in adherence and had sanitisers,” Mohajane said.
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