Police nab 224 suspects in nationwide operations

A total of 224 suspects were arrested by the South African Police Service (SAPS) for rape and five suspects for attempted rape in nationwide operations between May 5 and 11.

Those arrested include a SAPS trainer for the alleged rape of a trainee at one of the SAPS academies, and a 54-year-old Inkosi from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) for the alleged rape of an 18-year-old woman. SAPS is also continuing to intensify its operations to remove illegal firearms from communities. Every week, SAPS seizes no less than 100 firearms throughout the country. 

In the last seven days, SAPS seized 152 illegal firearms. Mpumalanga police seized the majority of illegal firearms (31), followed by the Western Cape with 19 illegal firearms seized. About 148 murder suspects were arrested, with 38 arrested in the Western Cape and 36 in Gauteng.

A total of 128 suspects were also arrested for attempted murder throughout the country.

“A staggering figure of 2 841 suspects were arrested for being in possession of drugs. The majority of them (1 700) were arrested in the Western Cape,” the SAPS said in a statement. “Police seized 9 492 mandrax tablets, with 5 839 of these mandrax tablets seized in the Western Cape.”

A total of 871 suspects were arrested for dealing illegally in liquor, with 408 arrested in KZN. Eight hundred and thirty-five suspects were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, with the majority being arrested in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

A total of 256 suspects were arrested for dealing in drugs and the majority (74) were arrested in the Western Cape. Eighty-six hijacked and stolen vehicles were also recovered this week. Seventy-four explosives, mostly used in illegal mining activities and cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies, were also seized by North West police this week.

A number of takedowns and arrests were also made throughout the country, which include the following:

KZN police shot dead five double-murder suspects in Hammarsdale. The suspects were wanted for the murders of a couple last week. Police received intelligence about their movements and tracked them down.

Five suspects were arrested in Mpumalanga in connection with the alleged murder and disappearance of journalist, Aserie Ndlovu and his partner, Zodwa Mdhluli.

Two University of Johannesburg students were arrested for the alleged murder of a Soweto pupil.

A Crime Intelligence-driven operation led to the arrest of two suspects, aged 32 and 35 years, who belong to a syndicate committing hijackings and CIT robberies in the Eastern Cape.

Five suspects aged between 31 and 46 were arrested for extortion cases on Tuesday by Limpopo police. This comes after members of Operation Vala Umgodi in the Sekhukhune District were summoned to the scene of extortion at one of the mines in Driekop, Limpopo.