Police crack down on lawlessness in north of Tshwane

A roadblock in Pretoria North during Operation Okae Molao. Picture: James Mahlokwane

A roadblock in Pretoria North during Operation Okae Molao. Picture: James Mahlokwane

Published Mar 4, 2021

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Pretoria - Tshwane police cracked down on lawlessness in the north of the capital, arresting people who broke traffic rules, wanted suspects and those in contravention of Covid-19 protocols.

Tshwane District Commissioner Major-general Hilda Mohajane led the multi-disciplinary Okae Molao operation in and around the suburbs experiencing concerning crimes like house robberies and hijackings.

The operation actually began the previous night with police detectives going out, tracing and arresting 349 wanted suspects, including 58 perpetrators of gender-based violence.

The policing authorities from SAPS, Home Affairs, Tracker and the Gauteng and Tshwane traffic officers also busted numerous people at various roadblocks for illegal immigration, whilst simultaneously enforcing Covid-19 regulations.

They also visited shops, liquor dealers and second-hand goods dealers where they confiscated liquor, arrested four people for possession of drugs, shutdown four shebeens and fined four stores for Covid-19 non-compliance.

They stopped private and public vehicles like taxis, checked that passengers were sanitised, wearing masks and also searched for possibilities of any and all unwanted contraband, including drugs.

Mohajane said at least 640 vehicles were stopped, 840 people were searched and a total of 140 fines worth R59 940 were handed to motorists during the morning.

Mohajane said the operation was being carried out simultaneously and continuously across Gauteng, but the police in Tshwane yesterday descended on Akasia and Pretoria North because families were being robbed in their homes.

She said criminals needed to be booted out of society because acts like house robberies of families that were asleep left people traumatised. She said they would continue to go to such areas during the day and at night to bust criminals.

“In Akasia and Pretoria North, vehicles are also being broken into and we target these areas because we want to address this problem. In Pretoria North, there are cases of theft out of motor vehicles, and their valuables are being taken.

“We also have groups specialising in Covid-19 compliance enforcement in Akasia and Pretoria North. I can also mention that the group that was in Akasia had an unfortunate situation where the community of Nkandla informal settlement attacked the police but by God’s grace we did not have any casualties and our members managed to come out without injuries, either to the police or the community. The situation is now calm and everything is sorted.”

Mohajane will be joined by Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-general Elias Mawela for another operation somewhere in Tshwane soon.

Pretoria News

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