The South African Police Service have confirmed that over 400 suspects have been arrested in different parts of the Johannesburg district during the ‘Operation Restore’ this past week.

Gauteng Police in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs, Department of Labour, Gauteng Traffic Police and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department took to the streets of Alexandra, Diepkloof and Hillbrow on Friday, 11 March 2022, with the aim of restoring law and order back to the communities.

The operation oversaw over 400 arrests of suspects for various crimes such as GBV, possession of drugs and possession of live ammunition among other crimes. According to the SAPS, about 380 of the suspects arrested were foreign Nationals suspected to be in the country illegally and were handed over to immigration officials from the Department of Home Affairs for processing and status verification.

A total of 179 arrests were made in Alexandra township, 179 arrests in Diepkloof and the least recorded number of arrests were made in Hillbrow (70). The SAPS also confirmed the arrests of six suspects for public violence linked to the protests against foreign Nationals in the area and indicated that there will be continued high police visibility even though the protests have since calmed down.

“While the situation has been stabilized and remains calm, police will continue with high visibility and high-density operations parallel to normal crime prevention and combatting interventions such as the integrated Operation O Kae Molao,” the SAPS said.