Operation brings the heat to crime in Tshwane
During the December 11 operation in Marabastad, police uncovered illegal connections, undocumented immigrants and stolen vehicles.
Law enforcement in Gauteng and other stakeholders recently carried out a large-scale operation throughout the metro dubbed “Operation Heatwave”.
The Gauteng Police Department were joined by the TMPD, Home Affairs, Traffic and crime prevention wardens, Fire and Environmental Health departments and partnering organisations.
On December 11, a large group of police vehicles assembled at Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre for a briefing of the day’s plans, then it was off to various targeted spots believed to be involved in criminal activity in Pretoria West and the CBD.
Rekord joined the group at three of the spots in Marabastad, which included a scrapyard where several stolen vehicles were recovered as well as a make-shift accommodation building housing numerous tenants, and a store believed to be selling counterfeit goods.
Gauteng deputy police commissioner, Major General Fred Kekana said the police are bringing the heat to criminals, hence “Operation Heatwave”.
“It took us three weeks to execute the operation we’re carrying out today.”
Kekana said their focus was on Pretoria West and Sunnyside within the Tshwane District.
“Our intelligence teams were tasked to gather information on places within the area that keep stolen property, hijacked vehicles, manufacture counterfeit products, drugs and undocumented immigrants. We’ve even hit a spot where they manufacture passports, IDs and asylum documents,” he said.
The operation started at 08:00 and two hours later they arrested an internet café owner who had been illegally manufacturing asylum documentation, passports and IDs.
He also mentioned the arrest of an illicit cigarette maker in the area as well, while officers and officials went through the scrapyard where multiple stolen vehicles were recovered.
“We had noted that a lot of stolen and hijacked vehicles are brought to this place. It has been under surveillance for some time, more than three weeks now and today we hit them with something that they couldn’t believe. Up to now, they are still halfway through the premises and we’ve recovered seven stolen vehicles,” said Kekana.
The recovered vehicles included:
– Ford Fiesta stolen in Rustenburg in 2021
– Silver Polo stolen in Soshanguve in April this year
– Ford Everest stolen in Olievenhoutbosch in June
– Toyota Hilux stolen in Rietgat in June
– Hyundai stolen in Tembisa in November 2023
– Hyundai H1 stolen in Olievenhoutbosch in November 2020
– Ford Fiesta stolen in Rietgat in 2019.
The police also arrested 33 undocumented persons and arrested another individual for employing undocumented persons in the yard. Kekana said that they would uncover the sources of these stolen vehicles through the suspect arrested at the scrapyard.
City officials also joined the raid, where they discovered illegal connections to water and electricity in the scrapyard and makeshift accommodation nearby.
“We are going to deal with this, the whole day we are here in Pretoria, in Tshwane, but strictly in Pretoria West, because we noted it is a problematic area and our focus [is] here. We are going to ensure that the criminality taking place in this area is eliminated,” said Kekana.
At an illegally occupied building on Mogul Street near the scrapyard, TMPD Chief Yolanda Faro said they raided the building because it violated numerous metro regulations.
“We came across a lot of building regulations that aren’t being followed. Buildings are zoned as residential premises and not as businesses. We’ve also come across a lot of illegal connections to the municipality’s water, as well as electricity and we’ve uncovered several environmental health issues,” Faro said.
“All the city departments are here, the water department is checking, and one property we’ve already been to had an illegal borehole. We are also cutting off illegal electricity connections and the building control personnel are also handling the legalities concerning why residential areas are operating as businesses without certification. It’s an integrated operation, we are all here and we are cleaning up,” said Faro.
The illegally occupied building was housing numerous tenants in make-shift rooms made of zinc and other materials. The authorities discovered several meters to various rooms were illegally connected to the metro’s electricity. Room-by-room, authorities removed occupants of the building including children, checking their identification and hauling them into the vans to detention if necessary.
The compound also housed stocks of goods to be sold at stores along the street. These stores were mysteriously closed at the time of the police’s arrival, however, Faro and a handy crowbar were able to gain entry.
“It’s not too early to say this building is not legally registered. Building control checked with their records from head office and it’s not. If it is zoned as a residence, you cannot operate a business on that premises, you must be business-zoned as well. Most of the arrests so far have been undocumented immigrants, but we are also inspecting several cars found on the premises and environmental health is checking if the food they are selling is expired,” said Faro.
She said that undocumented immigrants would be deported and the metro would determine the fate of the compound and goods confiscated.
Faro added that these operations were nothing new and would be continued throughout the festive period.
Once completed, the police would confirm the statistics concerning the opening of Operation Heatwave whereby further updates are expected.
Rekord caught up with a resident working at one of the stores hit by police who was willing to comment.
Elmi Abbi said the police’s approach was heavy-handed and he was tired of his fellow law-abiding nationals being lumped together with undocumented persons.
“They bring the press here and everything, but also as foreign nationals we have problems. Yes, we understand that the government of South Africa is going through many difficulties but they are unable to categorise who is a refugee and who is not. The way they paint us with one brush and we are all the same. The Department of Home Affairs and whoever else is in charge of it needs to approach this properly. How can you arrest someone at Home Affairs who is looking for documentation? We are all human beings, let’s respect one another,” said Abbi.
@rekordpretoria WATCH: Operation brings the heat to crime in Tshwane During the December 11 operation in Marabastad, police uncovered illegal connections, undocumented immigrants and stolen vehicles. | Link in Bio recentnews RekordNewspaper PoliceRaid News arrested crime OperationHeatwave SAPolice
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to bennittb@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok.
