Minister Bheki Cele: Medi briefing on Police counter operations

Good Morning to you all.

Combating Crime through Decisive Police Action and Robust Community involvement remains at the heart of policing in this country.

We all can agree that crime is not at acceptable levels and communities have called on the SAPS to respond to their crime concerns.

Ladies and Genetlemen, 

As the ministry, we are convinced that deep and meaningful inroads are being made in the fight againts crime.

In the past couple of days, the SAPS has intercepted armed and dangerous gangs, who have left a reign of terror and fear in their wake.

A group of eleven youngsters terrorising the community of  Mariannhill in the Kwa-Zulu- Natal were intercepted and nine were shot and killed during an arrest.

Over 20 would-be Cash-In-Transit robbers in Witbank in the Mpumalanga province, were also stopped in their tracks through coordinated responses by the police and private security.

Five of the suspects were killed during a gunfire exchange with police in their attempt to evade arrest.

8 of Cash-In-Transit robbers were arrested and another nine managed to escape.

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

There is no doubt that these criminals and many others are ruthless and arrogant.

Their actions demonstrate that they will eliminate anything and anyone that stands in their way. 

Criminals have waged a war on communities and are so brazen, they are testing the authority of the state by attacking police officers.

It is on this score, that police remain unapologetic in their aggressive and decisive response to crime.

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

This Ministry remains in full support of police work that results in safer communities.

We will forever welcome the arrest of criminals and for them to have their day in court.

BUT criminals are warned that if they engage the police instead of surrendering themselves; they will come out short.

We are CLEAR police will continue to protect communities and push back HARD on criminality.

Not on our watch, will we allow criminals to walk all over communities and certainly not the country’s law enforcement.

Simply put, the SAPS Crime Intelligence Division has been rejuvenated and bolstered to identify and infiltrate syndicates.

Intervention units and tactical response teams of the SAPS, continue to be capacitated;

The Directorate for priority crimes Investigations and overall detection of organised crime is sharper than ever;

The combination of all these policing services is DECISIVELY responding to crime, especially to violent and serious crime.

And WITHOUT an ounce of hesitation, officers on the ground, will PROTECT their lives and preserve the lives of innocent community members when the need arises.

Members of the media,

We have called this press conference to, amongst other things, remind the country that Intelligence led TAKEDOWNS by the police are not isolated nor are they coincidental.

They are as a direct result of reliable and strong intelligence coupled by sharp tactical readiness of police units who are trained to neutralise any threat and protect lives.

From April 2023 to date, 1 171 Intelligence led TAKEDOWNS were conducted by the SAPS.

These specialised operations involve weeks and at times months, of planning, surveillance and monitoring of targets. 

They involve highly-skilled detectives working together with members of tactical units, who execute arrests.

Western Cape 

In the Western Cape, gang cartels involved in extortion related crimes have been dismantled, through the arrest of Ralph Stanfield, his wife and two other accused. 

AKA

A breakthrough in the murder case of popular musician Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello Motsoane with the arrest of seven suspects who are before the courts including the alleged mastermind.

Fort Hare

The National Task Team assigned to investigate the Fort Hare murders has made significant strides with 24 suspects arrested to date. These include senior officials of the university and Directors of companies contracted to the university.

Nongoma

Senior officials from the Nongoma local municipality in KZN, including the municipal manager, CFO and municipal managers have been arrested and appeared answering to charges related to theft, fraud and money laundering. Nongoma has seen the assasination of political office bearers in the recent past.

Randwater

One suspect linked the murder of Rand Water executive Teboho Joala who was assassinated in front of school children during  an event  in the South of Johannesburg earlier this year.\

So far, 3 749 suspects  have been apprehended during Intellegence led TAKEDOWNS.

These include 173 for Murder, 57 for extortion and kidnapping. 164 for property related crimes.

269 for vehicle related crimes.

768 have been arrested for possession of illegal firearms.

488 and 79 suspects arrested for robberies and cash in transit robberies respectively.

1510 drug related and 214 illicit mining arrests were made from April to date during intelligence led TAKEDOWNS.

While it is the aim of the police to arrest suspects, some heavily armed susected criminals choose to engage the police in a gun battle and police will respond accordingly.

Police have and WILL come out  on top during these takedowns.

Over 150 such suspects were shot and killed from April 2023 to date.

This figure includes the September 2023 fatal shooting

of 19 CIT suspects in Makhado Limpopo, who opted to engage

in a gun battle with police instead of surrendering.

Still in Limpopo, four other CIT suspects were killed when SAPS members and farm watchers from Hoedspruit joined hands to trace suspects who had already shot and killed a cashvan security guard.

In April 2023, 10 heavily armed CIT related robbers were shot and killed during a confrontation with police in Sebokeng in the Gauteng province.

Kidnappings 

The kidnapping of  members of the public and influencial individuals as well as businesspersons remains a concern. 

The responses by the police to this crime is however encouraging and sizable inroads are being made.

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) has arrested 62 suspects involved in kidnappings for ransom from April to date.

Police operations have also led to the arrest of 55 suspects for the kidnapping of Chinese nationals in the country.

Five suspects have been arrested for their role in the kidnapping of Mozambican nationals.

In North West, on the 24th of March two cousins kidnapped for ransom on  the 6th of March 2024, while on their way to school were rescued by police officers.

Seven susoects have been arrested.

DPCI

The DPCI has also undertaken significant takedown operations targeting various criminal syndicates in the past eleven months. These operations have resulted in the interception of 14 identified targets across a range of illicit activities including theft, fraud, drug trafficking, money laundering, and contraventions of financial regulations.

Assets with an estimated value of R6,2 million were seized from April 2023 to date.

16 drug labs with drugs valued over R161 million were also shut down during this time.

Additionally, 20 suspects were apprehended in connection with drug-related offenses. 

In separate operations targeting narcotics led by the DPCI, drugs valued at over R506 million were taken out of circulation and 148 suspects apprehended through policing operations.

Added to the work of the DPCI, The Organised Crime Unit within the Detectives of the SAPS conducted numerous multi-disciplinary take down operations focusing on drigs.

Illicit substances such as mandrax, cocaine, heroin and magic mushrooms with an estimated street value of R121 700 000 were seized.

13 suspects were arrested during these drug related TAKEDOWN operations.

Operation Shanela

Over and above the intelligence led TAKEDOWNS, conducted through special operations 

Police on the ground are each week pushing back on crime, through the high density operations in identified high crime areas across the country through OPERATION SHANELA

Over 500 thousand suspected criminals have been removed from society  and brought before the courts to answer for their alleged crimes.

Exactly 551 506 suspects have been arrested for various crimes across the country since May 2023 when OPERATION SHANELA was introduced. 

Officers in blue in all 9 provinces, led by the respective Provincial Commissioners, have conducted almost 70 thousand ( 69 468) high density crime prevention and combating operations in the last eleven months.

The countrywide high-density operations have resulted in the arrest of 8 563 suspected rapists and 6 045 murder suspects.

4 410 suspects have been arrested for attempted murder.

Police officers have arrested 63 573 Assault GBH suspects and 37 333 suspects accused of common assault.

41 191 suspects have been arrested for the Contravention of the Immigration Act and were found to be in the country illegally.

16 073 drunk drivers were taken off our roads and arrested through various roadblocks and stop and searches during simultaneous countrywide operations.

 2 819 illegal miners involved in illicit mining were also caught and taken through the court processes.

Under operation ‘Vala umgodi’ which is a multidisciplinary operation involving various government departments such as SANDF and DMRE.

3 298 illegal miners were arrested which include:

• 989 South Africans,
• 818 Zimbabweans,
• 546 Basotho nationals,
• 440 Mozambicans,
• 186 Ethiopians,
• 159 Malawians,
• 32 Nigerians,
• 22 Bangladesh nationals

1 028 high-jacking suspects have been arrested over the past eleven months.

3 670 suspects were nabbed and face business burglary charges while a further 10 743 suspects were arrested for breaking and entering into peoples homes.

Over 17 thousand (17 077) suspects dealing with drugs 46 728 found in possession of drugs have been arrested since the start of OPERATION SHANELA in May.

Working jointly with local, provincial and national traffic police and other sister departments, the focus of OPERATION SHANELA remains the prevention of crime.

Wanted suspects 

This Ministry is encouraged that policing actions to trace wanted suspects and to remove illegal firearms continue to be sustained through OPERATION SHANELA.

Over 114 thousand (114, 404) wanted suspects who managed to flee from the law and evade arrest, have been apprehended since the commencement of OPERATION SHANELA in May.

1 266 of these suspects were wanted for attempted murder and 2 335 were sought after for murder.

22 965 of the arrested suspects were wanted for serious assault cases.

Over 1 300 suspects wanted for their involvement in business and home robberies were also apprehended by the police.

Overall, 39 668 wanted known suspects were also intercepted and arrested.

Firearms

17 401 Firearms were removed off the street through OPERATION SHANELA policing operations.

Conclusion 

Tragically, over the past 11 months, 109 police officers have lost their lives.

While the majority of the members died off duty.

36* police officers were killed during the commission of their policing work, such as confrontation with brutal and armed criminals.

Through investigative work conducted by the DPCI, 83 suspects have been arrested in connection with the police killings

As I conclude,

This Ministry and SAPS management has noted the ongoing public discourse on police TAKEDOWNS that have resulted in the loss of lives of suspects.

We have as the Ministry seen the mixed responses from various quarters of society.

The death of any individual in the country, criminal or not, should never be a cause of celebration. But with some in society doing so, following the take down of the armed gangs in KZN and Mpumalanga this week- speaks volumes.

However, that there is an independent directorate that is there to investigate the actions of the police in such cases.

We wish to allow those processes to unfold. 

With that said, the Ministry and SAPS management remains resolute in its support for the men and women in blue who are at the coalface of hardened criminals.

Our message is clear, no Police Officer should die with a gun their hand. 

We call on the police to remain vigilant, protect communities and protect themselves

At all times, act TOUGH on crime.

While you do so, this administration will continue its efforts to improve your work conditions and overall wellness as you serve the country and its people.

The nation appreciates the selfless and dangerous work you do as police officers.

I thank you.