EVATON – In the early hours of Thursday, scores of different law enforcers barricaded the Golden Highway near Graceland during the second phase of Gauteng’s Okae Molao operation.
Since the start of the raids on Wednesday evening which was the first phase where police Detective’s search for wanted suspects, about 911 arrests were made in the entire province.
Different law enforcement agencies including South African Police Services (SAPS), Gauteng Traffic Officers, Department of Home Affairs officials and private security companies (Tracker and Fidelity) flung the Golden Highway on a stop and search.
Searching of people, motor vehicle testing and searching, documenting illegal immigrants and arresting people dealing in drugs, stolen vehicles was the order of the day.
Speaking to Sedibeng Ster on the side-lines, Gauteng Provincial Deputy Commissioner for Policing Major General Tommy Mthombeni said the operation started with the Detectives last night, making arrests of wanted people.
“We are in Evaton today on the Provincial Operation Okae Molao. We started with the detectives which looked for wanted suspects. Within the province, we managed to arrest 911 wanted people, which 197 are linked with gender-based violence,” he said.
Mthombeni joined dozens of law enforcers during the roads block which saw five illegal immigrants arrested and those for various crimes.
“The arrested immigrants are undergoing the process with the relevant department. We also arrested two people for possession of dagga and a drunken driving person who was arrested,” he added.
Emfuleni Local Municipality MMC Ndade Mokoena for Public Safety joined the law enforcers during the operation.
He said “we are intensifying safety in Emfuleni to make sure that our residents walk freely without fearing to be victims of crime. Hijackings and murders are rife in the area. We are working with the province to make sure we deal with these heinous crimes. Criminals live in our communities and we want to deal with that and we are going to deal with the issues we are facing”.
About 54 vehicles were tested, 199 searched, five undocumented people together with one drunk driver and 2 drug dealers were arrested so far.
The operation is still underway.
