Quiet weekend for cops
Payday after long weekend a possible factor in fewer accidents and crimes
THE AWKWARD setting of the long weekend before most people’s payday could have been a factor in the reduction of major road and crime incidents in and around Joburg.
Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar, spokesperson for the Joburg metro police department (JMPD), confirmed that this past long weekend, which began on Friday and ended on Heritage Day, was calmer than previous ones this year.
Minnaar added that, with the public holiday falling before payday, the 25th, this could have been one of the reasons why law enforcement agencies had a quieter time than previous long weekends.
In total, according to official figures, there were 361 reported incidents in the city’s five regions, which included three deaths after a suspected drunk driver rammed into a pole in Lenasia in the early hours of Saturday morning, Minnaar said.
The driver and two passengers in the car died from their injuries.
There were 39 other crashes within the city, which resulted in no deaths as “these were minor accidents”, as well as 70 arrests for drunk driving.
“Increased police visibility also helped in terms of lowering the incidents of bad behaviour this weekend in terms of Operation Buya Mthetho, which began on Friday,” Minnaar said.
His views were echoed by Gauteng SA Police Service spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini, who said there were 471 arrests at the weekend throughout the province, including for housebreaking, robbery and drunk driving.
Meanwhile, Ekurhuleni also had a relatively quiet weekend, with operations involving the shutting down of illegal taverns, nabbing six drunk drivers as well as recovering a stolen vehicle.
“Responding to a tracker signal, the indicator revealed that the (Hilux) made a brief stop in the Dawn Park (Vosloorus) area after it was forcefully taken at gunpoint from a male driver by two robbers in Brits around 3pm on Friday.
“Police later found the vehicle abandoned in the Carnival City parking lot, with both false registration plates displayed,” Inspector Kobeli Mokheseng, spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni metro police department, said, adding that police were hunting for the robbers.