An internal SAPS report titled “Ekurhuleni District Lockdown Operations” paints a vastly different picture from DA MP and Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police Ian Cameron’s claims of an absent lockdown in the area.
According to the report, which Africa Daily has seen, the Ekurhuleni District lockdown was one of the largest recent deployments in Gauteng.
The report shows that a total of 4,206 personnel were deployed in the area. Major components included 1,047 SAPS members, 898 National Division VISPOL members, 730 Public Order Policing (POPS) members, 345 EMPD officers, 351 Gauteng Traffic Wardens, as well as other law enforcement and community structures.
The operational footprint was extensive, the report shows.
About 21,325 people were searched, 8,939 vehicles were searched, and seven roadblocks were conducted.
The report further shows that 176 vehicle checkpoints were established, 2,109 hotspots were patrolled and 691 schools were visited.
In addition, 600 liquor outlets were visited, with 10 closed, while 486 shopping complexes and malls were visited.
The successes, the report notes, included 469 arrests.
Those arrested included 286 undocumented persons, 34 people for possession of drugs, 39 for driving under the influence of alcohol, three for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, seven for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, four for attempted murder and one for murder.
Major confiscations included 623,213ml of alcohol, three firearms, 22 rounds of ammunition, 4,200 illicit cigarette sticks, 66g of cocaine, 31g of nyaope, 68 Mandrax tablets, and three motor vehicles that were confiscated or recovered.
Cameron, following an unannounced oversight visit to Kempton Park SAPS, said he found no visible sign of increased capacity after the government announced on 15 September that Kempton Park and surrounding areas would be placed under a policing “lockdown” through Operation Shanela.
“The station was found without electricity, while its generator was not functioning,” Cameron said.
“Station management reportedly told the delegation that they had been applying for a generator for about three years. Although the generator has apparently been approved, it has yet to be procured.”
He said the fleet was under severe pressure, with 59 vehicles on record, several in workshops, one unavailable for 98 working days, and 27 vehicles boarded since 2020, with replacements not keeping pace.
A previous unannounced visit to Tembisa SAPS had found 68 vehicles against a granted allocation of 107.
“The shortcomings should not be blamed on police members at station level, saying officers cannot deploy resources they do not have,” Cameron said.
His visit comes amid national outrage over gender-based violence and femicide, with 11 women’s bodies discovered across Ekurhuleni since July — the crisis that prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national address on Tuesday night.
But a source within SAPS, which conducts joint oversight with the Police Portfolio Committee, has slammed Cameron’s purported intervention as grandstanding that undermines collective work.
“A desperate attempt by the DA Chair to undermine our work. Please indicate that we did the oversight last week with the Minister of Police and what he’s raising is not new as we picked it up first,” the source, who cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said.
“Our sin may be that we didn’t play to the gallery as the minister called for additional resources in Kempton Park.”
The source added that Cameron “is being too forward as he was undermining their work”.
He explained that station-level infrastructure failures, such as the generator at Kempton Park that has been requested for three years, are procurement failures at the national supply chain level and not evidence that Operation Shanela never happened.
The source further argued that the deployment numbers prove the lockdown was not merely an announcement, contradicting Cameron’s claims that the government’s promised lockdown of Kempton Park had collapsed on the ground.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia is expected to be called to Parliament to provide a full breakdown of where the 4,206 personnel were deployed and how long they remained in Kempton Park.
