Gauteng police arrested more than 1070 suspects at the weekend during various operations, with 150 of them allegedly driving while under the influence of alcohol.
The suspects were arrested during O Kae Molao Operations, tracing of wanted suspects and routine police stop and search in various parts of the province between Friday and Sunday.
Among the serious crimes committed were violent crimes such as rape, sexual assault, murder, car hijacking, attempted murder and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, robbery, theft, fraud, possession of drugs, possession of suspected stolen property and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
In addition, police arrested over 70 people for contravention of the National Disaster Management Act.
Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela led the integrated law enforcement agencies in Kagiso, in the West Rand, joined by MEC for Community Safety Faith Mazibuko.
During this operation, police arrested more than 40 drunk drivers at a road block, 138 other suspects were arrested in the West Rand for crimes including possession of drugs, armed robbery, murder and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Crime combatting operations were also conducted in Soweto where more than 165 suspects were arrested for crime ranging from rape, murder, assault, theft, intimidation, pointing of firearm and robbery.
In the Tshwane district over 310 suspects were nabbed by integrated law enforcement agencies made up of South African Police Service, Metro Police Department and Gauteng Traffic Police.
These suspects were arrested for crimes ranging from assault, possession of suspected stolen property, reckless and negligent driving and dealing in drugs.
Furthermore, Joint intelligence-driven operations were also effective and yielded positive results in the Ekurhuleni District where 363 suspects were arrested for crimes that include assault, robbery, and possession of suspected stolen property, rape, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearm and possession of drugs.
In Sedibeng, police arrested 58 suspects for committing offences that include murder, burglary at residential premises, theft, robbery and selling liquor without licence.
The arrested suspects will appear in various Magistrate’s Courts in Gauteng in due course.