Police officials take confiscated goods
A sting operation by the police in Limpopo led to the arrest of 12 people attached to the Northam police station.
A sting operation by the police in Limpopo led to the arrest of 12 people attached to the Northam police station.
Twelve people were arrested for possession of
...show more
02 August 2012 | Nelie Erasmus
POLOKWANE - A sting operation by the police in Limpopo led to the arrest of 12 people attached to the Northam police station.
The 12 included five police officials, three data typists, three cleaners and a police reservist.
They appeared in the Northam magistrate’s court on charges of theft and defeating the ends of justice on Monday.
It is alleged they stole groceries confiscated from illegal traders and shared the groceries to the value of R10 000 among themselves.
The stolen groceries were recovered from the suspects.
The incident followed a sting operation launched by police in conjunction with the department of economic development, environment and tourism and the Limpopo Liquor Board against unregistered businesses and illegal shebeens.
"The crime trend in the province has proved that most contact crimes reported occur when people are from or at these businesses," said the police’s provincial spokesperson, Hangwani Mulaudzi.
"Many cases of business robberies reported have pointed to spaza shops, whose legitimacy cannot be traced. Illegal foreigners as well have unregistered businesses all over the province and have become soft targets for criminals," he said. Police will confiscate groceries found in unregistered spaza shops and, working with the Liquor Board, they will seize all liquor found at unregistered outlets or those not complying with the requirements of the Liquor Act. Of grave concern to the police is that illegal immigrants running illegal businesses tend to keep substantial amounts of money at their premises as they do not have access to banking facilities, making them vulnerable targets for opportunistic criminals.
To date 130 illegal spazas or tuck shops have been closed all over the province. A total of 60 illegal liquor outlets have been forced to close shop.
Fifty-seven fridges have been seized, 106 illegal foreigners arrested and a total of 484 suspects are behind bars for various cases ranging from rape to common assault, with illegal shebeens and unregistered spaza shops being the prime hot spots.
The suspects will appear in various courts across the province soon.
"We are not going to compromise the safety of our residents by accommodating the minority who live on the wrong side of the law. All businesses must be registered and obey the set regulations. "Failing to do so, consider your days of operation numbered," said the provincial commissioner, Lt Gen Simon Mpembe.
He added that illegal shebeens sell liquor to under-age young people and it influenced the rate of rapes and robberies which the province had experienced of late.
The provincial commissioner has strongly condemned the incident at the police station as it tarnishes the good name of the police. He reiterated that the officials will be served with notices of intention to suspend them from duty pending internal disciplinary processes and pointed out that the police cannot afford to have officials in its fold who commit criminal acts instead of upholding the laws of the country aimed at fighting crime.
The case was postponed to August 15 pending further investigations. They were released on a warning.
