JMPD attended to 79 protests within the city of Johannesburg over a six-month period. File photo.
Image: Thulani Mbele
The Johannesburg metro police department (JMPD) made 3,291 arrests and attended 79 protests from January to June this year.
This was revealed on Wednesday by Mathokoza Kgaswane, director in the JMPD’s office of the chief of police, who delivered the public safety’s JMPD Buya Mthetho performance report.
Protests attended within Johannesburg, included issues regarding electricity, industrial action, crime and water. About 83 land invasion operations were conducted during the period.
In internal affairs cases, about 13 cases of fraud and corruption were recorded from January to June and eight employees were dismissed.
The report highlighted that two JMPD officials and one member of the public were arrested for theft and illegally dealing in JMPD firearms and ammunition.
“Eight suspects were arrested in possession of stolen copper worth about R1m in Jeppestown. Two suspects were arrested for human trafficking in the Johannesburg CBD. Two suspects were arrested for suspected human trafficking in Meredale,” reads the report.
MMC for public safety in the city, David Tembe, speaking at the press conference, said the city was under siege.
“Criminals are roaming our streets, threatening livelihoods and killing innocent civilians. As the multiparty government, we are all determined to transform this city into a safe and habitable place for our residents to live, work and play,” he said.
Tembe said though they operate on a shoestring budget, they won’t give up on keeping residents safe.
“Recent killings around Gauteng have left us all shocked and saddened. We condemned in the strongest terms possible those killings. But is that enough?” he asked.
He said when he took office in December last year he made sure that Operation Buya Mthetho was reintroduced.
“With Operation Buya Mthetho and in the spirit of transparency, my department will be able to self-evaluate, even in public, and give you a breakdown of our successes, failures and challenges.”
