Police clarify that lockdown arrests are actually already at more than 17,000

Police have arrested 17,209 people since the beginning of the lockdown, Police Minister Bheki Cele clarified in a statement on Friday morning.

Cele had earlier announced at a media briefing by the inter-ministerial committee in charge of the response to the novel coronavirus outbreak that about 2,298 had been arrested, but he had only been mentioning the arrests on one day, 30 March.

“What has been a dampener since the beginning of the lockdown has been the consistently high number of people arrested for violating the lockdown regulations,” said Cele, citing 2,298 arrests just on 30 March. By close of business on 31 March 2020, the total sum of arrests had reached more than 17,000 since the kick-off of the lockdown.

The minister said on Friday that most of the arrests were made in the Western Cape, which saw 4,769 being effected. The others were 3,098 in the Free State, 832 in the Northern Cape, 1,845 in KwaZulu-Natal, 1,888 in Gauteng, 1,613 in the Eastern Cape, 1,562 in North West, 752 in Mpumalanga and 850 in Limpopo.

“All the rules being addressed today [Thursday] must be adhered to. Don’t give us a reason to arrest you. We have no issues arresting people if we need to, so don’t give us a reason to,” he had said at the briefing.

Offences varied among transport-related offences, liquor-related ones and general noncompliance with the lockdown and state of disaster regulations.

“Ideally,” said the minister, “we would prefer that our communities and all stakeholders cooperate and comply to minimise the risk of exposure of both themselves as well as our 24,389 law enforcement members to Covid-19. We really do not want to arrest people but to contain the spread of the virus.”

Members of the SAPS, the SANDF, metro police departments and all law enforcement agencies would remain on deployment throughout the lockdown period.

Minister Cele reiterated the need by provinces to align themselves with the national regulations, and not to unilaterally sanction their own unauthorised province-specific versions of the regulations as this ended up confusing the public and confusing law enforcement agencies.

This was after news emerged that the Western Cape had lifted the ban on the sale of cigarettes.

“The regulations are signed by Minister of Cogta [Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma]. There are no provincial regulations. What is done in Limpopo is expected to be done in Western Cape.

“Businesses shouldn’t complain when police implement national regulations. They shouldn’t make noise when police pounce.”

“There are avenues in place through which provincial governments can engage and give input in relation to the regulations. Minister Cele is calling on all spheres of government to follow due processes in the best interest of the country at large,” said acting spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters.

The lockdown regulations were amended on Thursday to allow for people who are in different provinces to travel to bury their loved ones, he said. This, however, can only be done if the person applies for a permit at either police stations and the courts.

Cele said he was glad that the regulations had been relaxed because of the challenges police had observed at provincial borders, especially on the Western Cape and Eastern Cape border.

“We have been inundated with volumes of calls from families seeking clarification or intervention or sometimes even permits relating to travelling to the funerals of their loved ones. Most such calls came from the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape and two particular police stations mentioned were Arbedeen and Aliwal North,” said Cele on Friday.

“The number 50 hasn’t changed. When people request permission to move to attend funerals, they have to understand they might not reach the funeral when the number has exceeded 50,” he warned.

Cele said he was also glad that government had explained the role of spaza shops during the lockdown.

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dlamini-Zuma amended regulations for all spaza shops and informal food traders to operate during the lockdown.

“We are happy that there is clarity on spaza shops. We have asked the commissioner of police to work with spaza shops,” Cele said.

Police have also been criticised for their overzealous use of force during the lockdown.

Several videos of police and soldiers using force to enforce the regulations have surfaced on social media. This has led to the DA launching a social media platform for people to convey their complaints of police brutality.

Cele, however, said the number of police complaints had decreased since the start of the lockdown a week ago. He said in the first three days of the lockdown, the ministry had received 26 complaints, adding that the number had gone down to 12 in the last few days, which meant there was “stability”.

(Background reporting, News24 Wire)

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