Police descend on CBD

RAID: MINISTER CELE, GAUTENG PREMIER AT SCENE AS WEAPONS FOUND

General insists law enforcement will win battle against crime.

The department of home affairs and South African Revenue Service joined more than 1 500 police officers on the ground in the Johannesburg CBD yesterday to raid shops stocking counterfeit products and also check the documents of foreign nationals living in the inner city.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura and Police Minister General Bheki Cele also joined the operation.

The operation was focused on shutting down illegal businesses and businesses selling fake and counterfeit products.

Cele argued that closing illegal businesses was a crucial step in the process of improving the state of the economy. But while attempting to close down counterfeiters, they stumbled across a more disturbing find in the form of a weapons cache.

“The aim is to protect the state and the economy and we found seven firearms we suspect are illegal, as they are made in Israel and in this country we don’t have guns from Israel,” Cele said.

“Clearly, we can see that those people who were fighting the police were protecting a lot of crime that is going on here.”

The owners of the guns claimed they were running a security company.

Cele said an investigation would be done to see if the weapons were linked to any crimes.

And he was confident the police would win the war against

crime in the Johannesburg CBD.

Makhura reiterated a call to the police to tighten borders and stop fake products from entering South Africa.

“We are calling on the whole of government to ensure that all counterfeit products are stopped at our ports of entry. What is destroying the jobs in the manufacturing sector is that these goods that are sold for almost nothing are brought into our economy and sold in our streets and that cannot be allowed,” he said.

“Operation Okae Molao includes seizing these counterfeit goods, but also shutting down businesses that are operating illegally.

Some of the goods sold are poisonous drinks that are smuggled into our country illegally.”

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Pictures: Nigel Sibanda BIG GUNS. Police Minister Bheki Cele greets officers during a raid on shops selling counterfeit goods in Johannesburg yesterday that also and uncovered an arms cache.