Durban — Operation Shanela is making successes in KwaZulu-Natal.
That was according to National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola when he updated the nation on Operation Shanela.
Masemola was speaking at Klipgat SAPS in the North West on Friday.
Masemola said that their continued analysis of crime patterns and emerging crime threats led to the creation of the high-density Operation Shanela on May 8, 2023.
He said the police continued to implement their five-pillar approach to reduce the volume of crime in communities.
“Operation Shanela comprises regular stop and searches, vehicle checkpoints, roadblocks, cordon and searches, high-visibility patrols including foot patrols, the tracing of wanted suspects with a focus on the apprehension of murder and rape suspects, compliance inspections at liquor outlets as well as second-hand goods dealers,” Masemola said.
Speaking on the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, Masemola said there were deployments in Manguzi.
“The task team deployed to clamp down on cross-border crime in northern KwaZulu-Natal is registering commendable progress with the arrest of 75 suspects since its deployment four months ago,” Masemola said.
He said the task team made up of specialised units and organised crime detectives from the police’s headquarters in Pretoria were deployed to the area in March this year, following a community engagement to address the high levels of cross-border crimes including vehicle theft.
“Following our interventions and deployments to the area, to disrupt and dismantle crime along the borderline affecting both South Africa and Mozambique 37 vehicles have since been recovered and 27 firearms recovered with 321 rounds of ammunition seized,” Masemola said.
On illegal mining, Masemola said: “To prevent and combat the theft of commodities and minerals in the Richards Bay area, as well as to prevent the murder of officials linked to the local mine, 26 suspects have been arrested, eight firearms recovered and 48 rounds of ammunition seized, eight stolen vehicles including trucks have also been recovered; 11 cases are currently before the court.”
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