Good morning ladies and gentlemen

The festive season is a significantly busy period for the South African Police Service – it is a time where we intensify our crime combatting operations to ensure the safety and security of our communities, holidaymakers, and tourists alike.

We are therefore gathered here this morning to take stock of the gains achieved by our men and women in blue throughout this period.

Reflecting on what has been achieved, it is quiet evident that the country’s law enforcement agencies led by the South African Police Service have been hard at work in ensuring everyone in the country is and feels safe.

244 951 SUSPECTS ARRESTED DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON

Ladies and gentlemen

Our safer festive season operations commenced on the 11th of October 2024 and ended on Friday, 31st January 2025 with 244 951 arrests recorded.

Through our safer festive season operational concept which is inclusive of operation shanela, we intensified our prevention and combatting strategies on nine focus areas with serious and violent crimes at the centre of attention. From combatting and putting perpetrators of Gender-Based-Violence-and Femicide (GBVF), Aggravated robberies, murders, rape and car hijacking in prison– we have been hard at work in asserting and reaffirming the authority of the state.

Through regular operations such as roadblocks, track and tracing operations, stop and searches coupled with the dedication and commitment of all involved in the fight against crime, criminals had nowhere to hide during this period.

Our intelligence operatives, detectives, visible policing members and forensic experts worked tirelessly in tracking, tracing and taking down wanted criminals.

Through intelligence and collaboration with various units within the SAPS, identified crime threats were addressed through conventional methods to identify, neutralise, dislodge, dismantle and takedown organised crime syndicates.

Crime intelligence continuously monitored various organised crime threats which include theft of motor vehicles, kidnappings for extortion, cash in transit armed robberies, critical infrastructure, illegal mining and stock theft – to mention but a few of other key crime categories.

MORE BOOTS ON THE GROUND

With an additional 2699 newly trained constables joining our ranks in mid-December last year – we were able to heighten police visibility and boost our crime combatting efforts at areas identified as hotspots across the country including malls, beaches and along our country’s key strategic routes.

5500 ADDITIONAL BOOTS TO COMMENCE TRAINING THIS WEEK

In keeping with our promise to increase personnel and ensure more boots on the ground to keep our communities safe, I’m pleased to announce that this week, we will be welcoming an additional 5500 new police trainees into our academies.

These recruits will undergo the Basic Police Learning Development Programme and those who are in possession of a matric certificate or an NQF level 5 qualification will undergo the nine-month training programme and those that are in possession of a NQF 6 qualification or higher will undergo the six-month training programme. In the last three years, I am pleased to announced that we have trained and deployed more than 20 000 constables that are already serving at various units and stations to bolster our crime fighting efforts.

ARRESTS EFFECTED FROM 11 OCTOBER TO 31 JANUARY 2025

Coming back to the business of the day, we have employed various crime combating strategies and it is thus encouraging to note that the following actions were executed throughout the festive season period.

Overall, more than 2 million patrols were conducted, with more than 4600 roadblocks, 620 000 stop and searches and more than 2 million persons were searched in the country.

Further to that, over 78 000 licensed liquor premises compliance inspections were executed together with more than 12 000 compliance inspections at firearm dealers and private security premises.

A total of 6 547 unlicensed liquor premises were shut down throughout the country during this period.

These operations as outlined yielded the following results:

• 4 501 murder and attempted murder suspects were arrested.
• 3 983 rape and attempted rape suspects were arrested.
• 27 640 suspects were arrested for Assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm while 17 311 suspects were arrested for common assault.
• 4 675 suspects were arrested for dealing in drugs while 27 376 suspects were arrested for being in possession of drugs.
• 10 042 suspects were arrested for dealing illegally in liquor.
• 1 952 suspects were arrested for illegal possession of firearms, while 1 380 were arrested for being in illegal possession of ammunition.
• 9 540 suspects were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
• And during this period, 25 950 illegal immigrants were arrested for being in the country illegally.

SEIZURES AND RECOVERIES

• A total of 2 198 illegal and unlicensed firearms were seized and confiscated during operations. These include 1 731 handguns, 154 homemade guns, 211 rifles and 102 shotguns. The majority of firearms seized where confiscated in Kwazulu-Natal, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. Firearms remain a big problem in South Africa as most serious and violent crimes including murders were committed with the use of a firearm.
• In this regard, 37 658 rounds of ammunition were also seized.
• 1 767 explosives that are mainly used in illegal mining activities and cash in transit armed robberies were also seized.
• A total of R4 million in cash was recovered.
• 116 293 cell phones which were stolen or used in the commission of crimes were also seized for further analysis.
• And lastly, a total of 960 stolen and hijacked vehicles were recovered.

GBVF

Our men and women in blue remain relentless in tracking, tracing, apprehending and prosecuting GBVF perpetrators.

Between October 2024 and December 2024, a total of 685 GBVF perpetrators were convicted to time in prison.

• 110 GBVF perpetrators were sentenced to life in prison.
• 71 GBVF perpetrators were sentenced to 20 years and above in prison.
• 174 GBVF perpetrators were sentenced to 10 years and up to 19 years in prison.

• 330 GBVF perpetrators were sentenced to a year and up to 9 years in prison.

CONVICTIONS: 01 OCTOBER 2024 TO 31 DECEMBER 2024 – 9908 ACCUSED CONVICTED

• from the period 01 October 2024 to 31 December 2024 – a total of 9 908 accused were found guilty and convicted for various crimes including murder, rape, armed robberies, house breaking and car hijacking.
• 603 accused were handed down life sentences during this period. 149 of them were convicted to life for murder while 433 were sentenced to life for rape.
• 71 accused were convicted to 40 years and above imprisonment sentence. 46 of them were convicted for murder while 12 were convicted for rape.
• 105 accused were convicted to between 30 and 39 years imprisonment sentence. 54 of them were convicted for murder and 16 for rape.
• 750 accused were convicted to between 20 and 29 years imprisonment sentence. 300 of them for murder and 307 for rape.
• 3431 accused were convicted to between 10 and 19 years imprisonment sentence. 963 of them for murder and 706 for rape.
• 4948 accused were convicted to between 4 to 9 years imprisonment sentence. 574 of them for murder and 371 for rape.
• 332 accused were convicted to time in prison for housebreaking. Five of them were handed down life sentences and another five were convicted to 40 years and more time in prison.
• 310 robbers were convicted to time in prison for committing a robbery with a firearm. Four of them were convicted to life in prison.
• 240 robbers were convicted to time in prison for business robbery. Three of them were convicted to life in prison.
• 166 car hijackers convicted to time in prison. Four of them were handed down life sentences.
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POLICE KILLINGS: 30 POLICE KILLERS ARRESTED DURING FESTIVE

Ladies and gentlemen, the ongoing attacks and killing of our men and women in blue cannot continue. From October 2024 to date, 9 on-duty police officers and 12 off-duty police officers have been killed. This is a crime that requires all of us to stand against and prevent it from happening. What is encouraging to note is that we have categorised the killing of police officers as a national priority offence which is investigated by the DPCI also known as the HAWKS.

It is thus reassuring to note that during the festive period, thirty police killers were arrested with seven convicted to 22 life and additional  725 years imprisonment sentences.

On our side, we continue to ensure members are always operationally ready by taking them through relevant training and acquiring the necessary resources needed for them to fight crime and also the

necessary protective gear to shield themselves from these criminals. We would ultimately like to see a situation where we don’t lose any member in the hands of criminals.

We therefore request South Africans to work with us and not against us in this fight to rid of our country off callous criminals.

OPERATION VALA UMGODI

Operation Vala Umgodi continues to register commendable progress where members are hard at work in preventing and combatting illicit mining activities across the country. Our members are still conducting patrols and standing static at disused and abandoned mine shafts in Stilfontein and in other hotspot areas. Vala Umgodi since its inception in December 2023. To date, more than 18 000 suspects have been arrested, the majority being illegal immigrants.

Still on Operation Vala Umgodi, to date, 458 firearms and 12 000 rounds of ammunition have been seized during operations across the country. 283 trucks, 303 vehicles, and 84 big machinery are also amongst the confiscations from illegal mining operations. Over R5 million in cash and uncut diamonds worth R32 million have been seized.

More than 1700 illegal miners that were arrested from August 2024 in Stilfontein are still in police custody. 121 have already been deported which include 80 Mozambicans, 30 Basotho nationals, 10 Zimbabweans as well as one Congolese and Malawian.

The Department of health forensic pathologists are busy with the autopsies with assistance of the SAPS victim identification centre (VIC) where fingerprints and sample for DNA analysis are being collected and sent to laboratory for analysis.

Our teams have collected DNA samples from the human remains, fingerprints and buccal samples from some family members who came

forward. The process to identify who the deceased persons are / is still underway.

On the issue surrounding the escape of Neo James Tshwaeli (Tiger) – a dedicated team of seasoned detectives and crime intelligence operatives have been piecing together information and this has so far resulted in four of our own members being arrested. The members have been removed from this operation and internal departmental proceedings are currently underway.

NATCOM PRIORITIES FOR 2025

We remain resolute in our fight against crime, amongst our key priorities for this year include the following:

• We aim to maintain and expand our Shanela operations to ensure high density crime combatting efforts continue throughout the country.
• Efforts are being made to ensure we establish more capacity to prevent and combat gang-related crime, serious and violent crime including the crime of extortion.
• Enhancing crime intelligence units is a priority to strengthen crime prevention initiatives.
• We also aim to upgrade our technology to ensure our 10111 call centres operate optimally.
• We are also working on enhancing our detective capacity to ensure we recruit more detectives to solve cases.
• Lastly, we aim to strengthen our community police relations to ensure increased cooperation.

IN CLOSING…..

Ladies and gentlemen, last but not least – let me take this opportunity to thank our stakeholders, our volunteers, community patrollers, neighbourhood watches, community policing forum structures, general public, other government departments and the private security for always working hand in hand with our members in creating a safe and secure environment. Without your cooperation we wouldn’t have been able to do it alone…

To our members who did not take leave during the festive period, thank you for your commitment, dedication and hard work… Stay extra vigilant and operationally ready to respond to the call of duty. Let us continue to prevent and combat crime in 2025 with the same vigour, determination and recipe for success..

REMEMBER IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING BY CALLING 08600 10111.

I THANK YOU!