By Doreen Mokgolo
Since Operation Shanela started a year ago, 16,423 suspects have been arrested across the country.
The numbers were revealed during a media briefing in Tshwane on Monday.
The campaign was launched by the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, on 8 May 2023 to combat crime.
The operations are carried out every week from Thursday to the early hours of Monday morning.
The department has been working with the South African National Defence Force, national and provincial traffic police, Home Affairs, Sars, community policing forums and private security companies.
During the past year, police have cracked 183 cases of human trafficking.
Over 49,200 pieces of explosives and 22,525 hand-made guns were recovered.
Detectives traced suspects as part of the operation, and police arrested 2,547 suspects for murder and 3,236 for rape.
Comparing the period between 7 May 2023 to 5 May 2024 there has been a reduction of murders with 339 counts, a 1.2% decrease from the previous year.
There was however a 3.2% increase in attempted murder.
Cases of sexual offences saw a reduction of 716 counts, a reduction of 1.3%, while sexual assault decreased by 1.4%.
Rape cases decreased by 618 and attempted sexual offences increased by 777. Contact sexual offences have decreased by 171.
Police revealed that 780,645 litres of fuel intended to be used for illegal mining was recovered.
Cele said that SAPS remains strongly committed to its approach to fighting crime.
“We have not arrived at a point where we can say we have stabilised crime in the country. There is still a lot of ground to cover,” he said.
“We are training 10,000 officers, increasing other units and have invited experienced detectives back into the force and special forces.”
He said the success of the campaign can be credited to community involvement and working closely with private security firms and empowering community policing forums.
Pictured above: Minister of Police Bheki Cele.
Image source: Supplied
