Gauteng Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni, senior management of SAPS and other law enforcement agencies kicked off the weekday Johannesburg District Safer Festive Season Operation Shanela 2 on November 20, in Houghton, with 85 undocumented foreign nationals brought to book.

Read more: Police seize drugs, undocumented individuals, and suspects during Norwood Operation Shanela crackdown

Major-General Fred Kekana explained, “As part of the ongoing operation, we have strengthened and continue to ensure that we mobilise more resources to ensure that the areas of concern in terms of crime prevention, our G20 routes and crime hotspots are taken care of.”

Kekana added that the operation was off to a good start, with 85 undocumented foreign nationals being arrested and eight people being arrested for drug-related crimes.

The Major-General noted that on November 18, they conducted an integrated operation with Home Affairs, focusing on Mayfair. “We managed to arrest 426 undocumented persons and among them were women and children. That was not the end of the operation. We have noted that Mayfair and Fordsburg are a problem when it comes to undocumented citizens.”

Also read: Police target crime hotspots in Norwood under Operation Shanela

Kekana appealed to community members to continue following the law, especially ahead of the G20 summit.

“As you know, we are hosting the G20 leaders’ summit, we appeal to our communities who are law-abiding citizens to continue to continue and report any criminal activities within their space. The message for the festive season is still the same: we want more cooperation from the community to ensure they’re safe and responsible.”

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