More than 9,000 suspects arrested for murder, rape and other serious crimes in KZN in May

More than 9,000 suspects were arrested for murder, rape, robberies and carjacking and 325 firearms were seized by KwaZulu-Natal police in May.  

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said relentless operations by police in the province led to the arrests of 9,016 suspects  

“A total of 2,620 suspects were arrested for contact crimes, 155 were nabbed in connection with cases of murder, including a farm murder, and 122 suspects were bust after they were linked with cases of attempted murder. 

“With murders committed with the use of firearms having shown signs of increase in the province, targeted operations at intelligence-identified areas were conducted and a total of 325 firearms, including 29 rifles and 19 shotguns, were removed from society in May. More than 3,000 rounds of ammunition were also recovered,” he said.  

Netshiunda said 213 suspected rapists were arrested. 

“The war against gender-based violence has also been intensified and the police’s efforts to curb the scourge has resulted in the arrests of 213 suspects for rape, 27 people were nabbed for sexual assault and seven suspects were arrested for attempted rape.”

Nine suspects were put behind bars for sexual offences.  

“Investigators from the family violence, child protection and sexual offences units across the province have been hard at work and more than 11 life imprisonment sentences were attained in May. In addition 149 people were arrested as a result of contravention of the Domestic Violence Act,” said Netshiunda. 

Police arrested 57 suspects for house robberies, 20 for carjacking and 33 for business robberies.  

“Still on contact crimes, 1,245 suspects were arrested for cases of assault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, 624 knives, 28 machetes, 21 fighting sticks and two axes were seized. On the stock theft front, 17 suspects were arrested for theft of all stock and 31 cattle, 24 goats and nine sheep were recovered,” said Netshiunda. 

He said drugs were identified as a contributing factor in the commission of crime.  

“Dedicated teams of detectives and visible policing have managed to arrest 177 suspects for drug-related crimes and 34 people were arrested for kidnapping.” 

Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said high-density operations had become a norm and would continue to “create a safe and secure environment for all residents of KwaZulu-Natal and visitors.

“Criminals cannot do as they please. Lawlessness cannot be the order of the day and no one can walk all over law enforcement officers. We have a constitutional mandate to combat and prevent crime and that should be in our minds every time we report for duty.

“No area is a no-go area, no-one is untouchable and we must make our presence felt. We must enforce the law to a point where criminals run out of breath.” 

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