Pretoria: Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili of the South African Police Service (SAPS) on Friday assured South Africans that with an addition of 3,558 newly trained police officers, the SAPS is committed to ensuring safety during the festive season. "We have indeed entered a period of heightened police operations to ensure that people are and feel safe this festive season," she stated.
According to South African Government News Agency, Acting Police Minister, Prof. Firoz Cachalia, welcomed the newly-qualified police constables who have completed their training at various SAPS academies across the country. The SAPS has been actively deploying these new constables to enhance crime-fighting capabilities and improve public safety. Some of the new constables were deployed at the Nasrec Expo Centre during the G20 Leaders' Summit last weekend.
"It's all hands on deck as the men and women in blue-working closely with other law enforcement agencies-continue to stamp the authority of the state in every corner of our country," Mosikili said. She spoke at the release of Quarter 1 and 2 crime statistics in Pretoria, highlighting the relentless efforts to keep people safe.
Mosikili noted the importance of further reducing crime statistics. "We are not where we want to be in terms of the numbers. We would surely like to see a further reduction of cases reported and detected as well as a lot more green graphs indicating a downward trend. Let's all agree, that we are going somewhere, and we are feeling the difference through our weekly integrated multidisciplinary operations commonly known as Operation Shanela," she added.
During the period from 1 April to 31 September 2025, 413,583 suspects were arrested, and 3,442 firearms were seized, she reported. Alcohol remains a significant factor in contact crimes, and 11,975 unlicensed liquor premises were shut down by the police.
Mosikili emphasized that criminals across the country are facing the full might of the law. "From the Western Cape to KwaZulu-Natal and where we are today in Gauteng, police remain resolute and there is no turning back. In the Western Cape, where we have ongoing gang violence, 722 gangsters were arrested with 1,565 illegal firearms and more than 39,000 rounds of ammunition seized during the operations. In KwaZulu-Natal, five accused persons behind the Umlazi Glebelands hostel mass shooting in June 2023, where eight people died, were each handed down eight life sentences and an additional 15 years in jail," she said.