According to Captain Eddie Boboko, police members, municipal and provincial traffic officers, community patrollers and Protea mine security officers took part in the action from 06:30 on 14 October.
“It is important to recognise that there is no single cause of crime in the district. The search for single causes would merely lead to simplistic and, therefore, ineffective solutions. At the same time, different types of crimes have different root causes and, therefore, require different approaches to prevention. The district approached this prevention through such an O Kae Molao operation, focusing on crime prevention, roadblocks and checking compliance at liquor outlets and second-hand goods sellers to squeeze the space in which criminals can operate. The focus was also on the transportation of illegal goods, firearms and drugs and finding stolen or hijacked vehicles and the detectives tracing wanted suspects,” says Boboko.
A total of 131 suspects were arrested during the operation. Two were arrested for murder and one for attempted murder. Thirteen were charged with common assault and 36 for assault GBH (grievous bodily harm). Five were apprehended for rape. Two suspects were arrested for common robbery, one for house robbery, six for burglary at houses and seven for business burglaries. One person was caught for hijacking,
The police also arrested a man for being in possession of an R4 rifle magazine, another for the possession of live ammunition, four for the possession of dagga and five for the possession of suspected stolen property. Twelve foreign nationals did not have the necessary documents to be in the country legally.
Other arrests were made for intimidation, malicious damage to property, fraud, theft, perjury, pointing of a firearm, driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless and negligent driving, the possession of gold-bearing material and illegal mining.
Fines totalling over R10,000 were issued to second-hand goods- and liquor stores that failed to adhere to the relevant legislation.
A total of 28 fines to the value of R23,400 were also issued during a roadblock on the N12 as part of the operation.
Warrants of arrest for unpaid traffic fines to the value of R14,000 were also issued.
All the suspects arrested appeared in the Fochville Magistrate’s Court.
During a parade at the start of the operation, the West Rand district commissioner, Maj-Genl Fred Kekana, urged police members to get vaccinated against Covid-19 if they had not yet done so.
