By Charmaine Ndlela
The South African Police Service (SAPS) arrested 24 910 suspects, including 2 680 wanted individuals, during two weeks of nationwide operations targeting violent crime and other offences ahead of the festive season.
SAPS said on Monday that the arrests were made through its Safer Festive Season campaign and Operation Shanela II, which include high-density policing, patrols, vehicle checkpoints and compliance inspections.
In a separate breakdown covering 6 October to 8 November, police reported 265 arrests for murder, 233 for attempted murder and 308 for rape, including 33 rape suspects arrested in the Free State.
Another 16 suspects were arrested for attempted rape, 140 for illegal possession of firearms, 813 for possession of dangerous weapons and 112 for armed robbery.
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Drug-related arrests included 4 075 suspects for possession of drugs and 384 for dealing in drugs.
Police also arrested 2 466 suspects for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and 1 168 for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
A further 2 593 people were arrested for contraventions of the Immigration Act, while 1 400 suspects were arrested for illegal dealing in liquor.
Police seized 224 unlicensed firearms, 2 630 rounds of ammunition and 1 310 dangerous weapons during the operations.
KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of handgun seizures at 26, followed by the Western Cape with 25.
Officers also recovered 85 hijacked and stolen vehicles and confiscated various drugs.
The operations coincided with heightened police deployments during the 4 November local government elections.
In Limpopo, two women were arrested in Khomisani and Mankweng for allegedly photographing their marked ballot papers, in contravention of electoral legislation.
In KZN, police opened a burglary investigation after ballot papers, voting ink and other Electoral Commission materials were stolen from a voting station at Mnyameni High School in Hillcrest.
Police are also investigating why the materials were reportedly delivered to the school the night before voting without the required police escort.
Police said Operation Shanela II and other festive season operations would continue in identified crime hotspots across the country.
