Police have arrested 16 817 suspects in connection with various crimes as authorities intensify their nationwide Safer Festive Season Operation running alongside Operation Shanela II.
“In the past week, these crime-fighting initiatives and tracking operations saw police apprehending 2 626 wanted suspects for serious and violent crimes including murder, attempted murder, rape, car-hijackings, sexual offences, house and business robberies.
“In addition, a total of 1 013 suspects were arrested for illegal liquor trade as well as 771 suspects for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, including confiscating 25 117 litres of alcohol,” the South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement.
The police recorded the following arrests:
- 146 suspects were arrested for murder. KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of arrests with 46, followed by the Western Cape with 22, Mpumalanga with 19, and then the Eastern Cape with 17.
- 141 suspects were arrested for rape, with the majority of arrests in Gauteng at 30.
- 131 suspects were arrested for attempted murder across multiple provinces.
- 1 580 suspects arrested for assault GBH.
- 2 978 suspects arrested for possession of drugs, with the Western Cape recording the highest number of arrests with 1 708, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 360, Gauteng 287, and then the Eastern Cape with 279.
- 279 suspects for dealing in drugs for the past week.
- 82 suspects were apprehended for illegal possession of unlicensed firearms.
- 417 for possession of dangerous weapons.
- 27 arrested for human trafficking.
The following major seizures and recoveries were recorded in the same period: 1 709 rounds of ammunition; 128 unlicensed firearms; 1 916 dangerous weapons; contraband goods worth more than R20 million and 65 stolen and hijacked vehicles were recovered.
Two Mozambican foreign nationals were arrested after police recovered two firearms stolen from officers who were shot and killed in Ivory Park on 01 December 2025. Seizures included the SAPS-issued R5 rifle and one pistol, and police investigation is ongoing.
Two bodyguards, aged 24 and 36 years old, were arrested outside the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court for possession of a semi-automatic AKM rifles and ammunition. A vehicle, rifles, and ammunition were seized.
In the Western Cape, police uncovered an illicit alcohol manufacturing plant in Lansdowne and arrested two suspects aged between 26 and 39 years old. They were arrested for the illegal manufacturing and distributing liquor. Seizures included manufacturing equipment, an assortment of alcohol branding stickers, and unknown liquids.
Still in Western Cape, members of the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Narcotics Unit intercepted a truck on the N12 en route from Johannesburg to George carrying drugs. A box containing cocaine worth R3.6 million was seized and arrested a 46-year-old suspect for dealing in cocaine.
In Mpumalanga, police acting on intelligence intercepted a truck pulling two trailers with 12 water tanks with 5000-litre capacity packed with cartons of illicit cigarettes.
The seized consignment consisted of 25 pallets of illicit cigarettes worth R17.4 million. A 43-year-old foreign national from the Kingdom of Eswatini was arrested after the discovery of illicit cigarettes hidden inside water tanks in Sundra on 05 December 2025.
Also in Mpumalanga, two Zimbabwean foreign nationals were arrested for dealing in dagga. This is after police intercepted a truck on the N2 Road from Empangeni en route to Zimbabwe and discovered six big bags of compressed dagga to the value of R1.2 million on 04 December 2025.
In the Northern Cape on 04 December 2025, police intercepted a vehicle allegedly transporting a rhino horn on the N14 and arrested three suspected rhino poachers, aged between 42 and 48 years. Seizures included a rhino horn, a pistol, and ammunition.
In KwaZulu-Natal, an intelligence-driven operation conducted at Oshayanyawo, Ekombe led to the arrest of a 49-year-old suspect for possession of unlicensed firearms. They seized an AK47 assault rifle with three rounds of ammunition, an HMC pistol with 14 rounds of ammunition, as well as a shotgun with 13 rounds of ammunition.
In a separate operation, three suspects aged between 50 and 61 years were arrested at Makhasaneni for unlawful possession of firearms on 02 December 2025. During the operation, police recovered five homemade firearms, one homemade shotgun, one 38 special revolver, one pistol and ammunition. – SAnews.gov.za
