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A total of 20 suspects were arrested for a number of offences this morning.
This comes after a crime prevention operation to five hijacked properties in the inner city of Johannesburg.
The operation was conducted by the City’s Group Forensic and Investigation Services Unit (GFIS) in conjunction with the South African Police Service (SAPS), Department of Home Affairs and the Bad Boys private security company.
The properties where the operations unfolded are located in Berea, Hillbrow, and Braamfontein. Four suspects were arrested for being in possession of drugs, two for assault and one for being in possession of a fraudulent identity document. A total of 13 undocumented foreign nationals were also arrested during the operation.
The City will be engaging with the Department of Home Affairs to ensure that those detained are properly processed. Those who qualify for asylum must be expeditiously issued with the relevant legal papers.
To date 27 hijacked properties have been handed back to their rightful owners. About 300 buildings are confirmed as hijacked in the City.
Criminals must know that they might run but there is no place for them to hide in Johannesburg. Operation Buya Mtheto remains determined to ensuring that indeed rule of law returns to our communities.
The City will not leave any stone unturned when dealing with criminal activities within its area of jurisdiction and we will continue to intensify the raids at these bad and hijacked properties with the assistance of Saps and other law enforcement agencies.
We are committed to ensuring that we stop the rot in our inner city and make it a prosperous and inclusive place for our people to live work and play.
Cllr Herman Mashaba
Executive Mayor
City of Joburg
For media queries, contact
Lucky Sindane
Director: Strategic Stakeholder Management
Group Forensic and Investigation Services
Cell: 065 865 0696
Email: LuckySi@joburg.org.za
