Premier & Minister praise Western Cape SAPS for intelligence-driven operation

Premier Alan Winde and Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety Anroux Marais have welcomed the swift action by South African Police Service (SAPS) members in an intelligence-driven operation in Khayelitsha that prevented a planned cash-in-transit robbery.

Premier Winde commended the SAPS, “I am very grateful no police officers or innocent members of the public were harmed while conducting this operation. This is proof that when coordinated, intelligence, and evidence-based policing are implemented, violent crime can be prevented, and we can make inroads in our efforts to fight crime. However, I am deeply concerned about the calibre of weaponry the suspects were allegedly armed with. I shudder to think of the bloodshed that would have been caused had they been used in our communities. I implore the SAPS to prioritise its investigation to determine exactly where these weapons originated from. We must work closer together and do everything possible to take all illegal weapons off our streets to make our communities safer.”

The Premier lauded SAPS members for making 5 arrests as well as seizing improvised explosive chargers, and 13 firearms, among them seven AK47s, and two R5 rifles.

“We must determine where they got their hands on these weapons,” Premier Winde reiterated.

He added, “Organised crime syndicates have been warned: your reign of terror over innocent, law-abiding residents must end.”

“I commend the police on a well-planned and executed operation in Khayelitsha. The arms and ammunition confiscated will no longer be used to terrorise our people. I trust that the suspects who were taken into custody will be able to provide further information which will assist detectives in their probe,” Minister Marais said

She congratulated Western Cape SAPS Commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile and his team on this success.