Festive season crime stats unveiled
2013-01-15 12:12
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Police
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Pretoria - A total of 704 people were arrested for public
violence over the festive season, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Tuesday.
"We respect the right of citizens to protest as that is
a constitutionally enshrined right and we have no intention to tamper with
these rights," he said.
"We, however, firmly oppose any violent destruction of
property, intimidation and murder of innocent people whilst all these criminal
acts are being disguised and justified as public protests."
Mthethwa was speaking in Pretoria at the release of crime
statistics for the festive season.
He said police would deal with any lawlessness to ensure
they defended law-abiding citizens.
Arrests
The festive season campaign started on 15 October and would
officially end on 31 January. About 76 700 people were arrested during the festive season.
Around 51 191 fines were issued during this period for
various offences from traffic violations to illegally operating liquor outlets,
he said.
"We remain very concerned about the lack of adherence
to the rules of the road which... have resulted in fatalities and loss of
lives," Mthethwa said.
"We arrested 2 751 suspects for driving under the
influence, which is exceptionally high. To date we have confiscated 451 stolen
vehicles nationally."
On Thursday, Transport Minister Dikobe Ben Martins said it
was estimated that around 1 465 people lost their lives in road accidents
during the season.
- SAPA
