By REGINALD KANYANE
12 October 2026 – A total of 1008 suspects have been arrested for various serious and other crimes during a week-long, multi-disciplinary Operation Shanela II across the Free State province. The South African Police Service (SAPS) and its integrated law enforcement partners conducted 24 approved high-density operations across the province between 4 and 11 October 2026.
According to national police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Thabo Covane, the operations focused on crimes involving firearms, drug trafficking, Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), as well as trio crimes, including carjacking, house robbery and cash-in-transit heists. Covane said the operations also targeted aggravated robberies, including street robberies and aimed to prevent violent and serious crimes through coordinated law enforcement activities.
“The integrated forces continue to conduct foot and vehicle patrols, air-to-ground patrols, roadblocks, vehicle checkpoints, tracing operations and tracking operations to locate wanted suspects and prevent crime.
“The operations involved various stakeholders, including the SAPS, South African National Defence Force, Department of Home Affairs, Department of Labour and South African Revenue Service.
During the week, law enforcement officers conducted 5,259 high-visibility patrols and 3,043 other patrols,” he said.
Covane further said they also carried out 225 Vehicle Check Points (VCPs) operations and 17 roadblocks in identified crime hotspots. He added that a total of 1,158 stop-and-search operations were conducted, alongside 269 tracing operations targeting wanted suspects and 203 tracking operations.
“The police also inspected 738 licensed liquor premises, resulting in the closure of 10 unlicensed liquor outlets.
Furthermore, 2,881 farms were visited in collaboration with the departments of Home Affairs and Labour to ensure compliance with labour laws, prevent farm attacks and curb stock theft.
“Authorities also inspected 112 formal and informal businesses, including spaza shops, as well as 134 second-hand dealers and 48 scrapyards and recycling businesses,” said Covane.
He said seven notices were issued to second-hand dealers for failing to maintain prescribed records. Covane said eight mining areas were visited, while six enforcement operations were conducted in terms of the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act (SASREA) and the Regulation of Gatherings Act.
He said the 1,008 arrests included 269 wanted suspects who were successfully traced in connection with various crimes, including business robbery, murder, attempted murder, rape, sexual offences and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Covane said the overall arrests included 25 suspects for murder, 23 for attempted murder, 30 for rape, 158 for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and 86 for common assault.
“Other arrests included four suspects for business robbery, six for residential robbery, three for aggravated robbery, 12 for business burglary and 19 for residential burglary.
“The police also arrested 60 suspects for possession of drugs, 24 for dealing in drugs, five for illegal possession of firearms, four for contravening the Firearms Control Act and four for illegal possession of ammunition,” he said.
Covane said a further 48 suspects were arrested for possession of dangerous weapons, 32 for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and 101 undocumented foreign nationals were apprehended. He said the integrated forces also confiscated various illegal items and contraband during the operations.
“These included four handguns, one rifle, 115 rounds of ammunition and 48 dangerous weapons. The police also seized 45 kilograms of dagga, 134.25 Mandrax tablets, two grams of Mandrax powder and 26.54 grams of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as Tik.
“Other confiscated items included 673 litres of alcoholic beverages, 10,607 packets of tobacco products, one kilogram of copper cables, five vehicles, 10 vehicle parts and accessories, nine cellphones and cash amounting to R46,844,” said Covane.
He said the next round of planned weekly operations under the Safer Festive Season campaign, #OperationShanela2, had already commenced across all five districts of the Free State province. Covane said the operations would continue to focus on preventing serious and violent crimes, tracing wanted suspects and removing illegal firearms, drugs and other contraband from communities.
