Gauteng still SA’s top crime hotspot, leads in arests for serious offences – Hawks chief

Godfrey Lebeya

Cape Town – Hawks head Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya has revealed that Gauteng remains the leading province for serious crime in South Africa.

During a media briefing on Sunday, Lebeya detailed the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations’ (DPCI) achievements in the first quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year.

Gauteng saw the most arrests, followed by KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Mpumalanga, and Eastern Cape.

“A total number of 673 suspects, representing 637 natural persons and 36 juristic persons, were secured before the various courts in the country. Of these natural persons, 489, which is 77%, are South Africans while 148, which is 23%, are foreign nationals.

“Of the 673 suspects, the Serious Organised Crime Investigation secured 370, the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation secured 234, while the Serious Corruption Investigation secured 69 suspects.

“Most of the arrests were effected in Gauteng province with 167; KwaZulu-Natal province with 114; North West province with 92; Mpumalanga province with 57 and Eastern Cape province with 56 suspects,” Lebeya said.

He also addressed ongoing efforts against police killings, public violence incitement, and other serious crimes, emphasising the continued challenge of fighting national priority offences.

“The DPCI shall continue to effectively respond to these crimes. Twenty-one members were killed in the 1st quarter of 2024/2025 with sixteen  of those having been killed whilst off duty and five whilst on duty.

“Eighteen arrests were effected of which nine were effected on the 21 cases reported for the period while nine were on eight cases registered prior to the 1st quarter,” Lebeya said.

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Compiled by Betha Madhomu

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