Police in South Africa’s Gauteng province have arrested over 2,000 suspects in an operation aimed at rooting out crime in the country’s most urbanised region, a senior law enforcement official on Monday.
South African Police Service spokesperson Mavela Masondo said the police worked hard to trace wanted suspects by conducting roadblocks, raiding taverns and performing stop-and-search operations across the province during the weekend.
“Other suspects were arrested during the tracing of wanted suspects who committed offences that include rape, murder, assault, housebreaking and theft, armed robbery, fraud, sexual assault, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm,” Masondo said.
According to Masondo, the various operations were part of “enhanced crime prevention initiatives” following the recent rise in crime rate of 11.5% nationwide between April and June this year.
Some of the suspects were released after paying admission of guilt fines, while others are expected to appear before various magistrates’ courts in Gauteng this week, the senior police officer said.
NM/jn/APA