Cape Town: The South African Police Service (SAPS) has made 244,951 arrests during the festive season, as part of heightened crime-fighting operations aimed at safeguarding communities, holidaymakers, and tourists across the country. The safer festive season operations commenced on 11 October 2024, and ended on Friday, 31 January 2025.
According to South African Government News Agency, 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, housebreaking, and car hijacking. National Commissioner for the South African Police Service, General Fannie Masemola, provided these updates during a media briefing on the SAPS Nationwide Safer Festive Season Operations.
Masemola announced that a total of 2,198 illegal and unlicensed firearms were seized and confiscated during operations, including 1,731 handguns, 154 homemade guns, 211 rifles, and 102 shotguns. The majority of firearms were confiscated in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Eastern Cape, and the Western Cape. Additionally, 37,658 rounds of ammunition and 1,767 explosives, mainly used in illegal mining activities and cash in transit armed robberies, were seized.
The police recovered R4 million in cash and seized 16,293 stolen cell phones, which were either taken during crimes or used in their commission. Furthermore, a total of 960 stolen and hijacked vehicles were recovered. During this period, more than two million patrols were conducted, with over 4,600 roadblocks, 620,000 stop and searches, and over two million persons searched in the country.
Over 78,000 licensed liquor premises compliance inspections were executed, along with more than 12,000 inspections at firearm dealers and private security premises. A total of 6,547 unlicensed liquor premises were shut down. The SAPS intensified prevention and combatting strategies on nine focus areas, with serious and violent crimes at the center of attention, including gender-based violence and femicide, aggravated robberies, murders, rape, and car hijacking.
The intelligence operatives, detectives, visible policing members, and forensic experts worked tirelessly to track, trace, and apprehend wanted criminals. Collaboration with various units within the SAPS led to identifying and dismantling organized crime syndicates. Crime intelligence monitored organized crime threats such as theft of motor vehicles, kidnappings for extortion, cash in transit armed robberies, and illegal mining.
Between October 2024 and December 2024, a total of 685 gender-based violence and femicide perpetrators were convicted. Of these, 110 perpetrators were sentenced to life in prison, 71 to 20 years and above, 174 to 10 to 19 years, and 330 to one to nine years in prison. The SAPS remains committed to tracking, tracing, apprehending, and prosecuting these perpetrators.