92 nabbed in KZN as looting recovery continues
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, together with police and the SANDF, have begun recovery operations in search of the volumes of goods that were looted during the unrest.
As tensions simmer down across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, the NatJOINTS says it's been receiving an influx of tip-offs from residents about the suspected stolen properties whose value hasn't yet been determined.
National police spokesperson Mathapelo Peters says the number of arrested suspects has risen to 3 407.
"In Gauteng during integrated operations at a number of hostels in mostly Tembisa, Johannesburg, Alexandra and Moroka over the weekend, 14 suspects were arrested for being in possession of suspected looted property.
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"Amongst the goods recovered were bed mattresses; television sets; couches; fridges, sound systems; computer screens and laptops; steel frames; grocery, and clothing items.
"Meanwhile, in KwaZulu-Natal 92 suspects have been arrested over the weekend for being in possession of stolen property."
With one person out on bail, 1 122 suspects are expected to appear in different courts this week.
The remaining dockets are still under investigation.
Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry has gazetted new directives that allow for separate court roll and courts to prosecute people involved in the massive looting.
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"This has been necessitated a different mechanism for us to deal with this which includes assuring that we have additional experienced staff were necessary so we might see prosecutors coming out of retirement so that we are able to speed up these cases, but also we need to ensure that we have a mechanism to ensure that these cases are quickly and speedily dealt with,” says spokesperson Chrispin Phiri.
