Police Minister Bheki Cele clarified that there have been more than 17 000 arrests — 17 209 to be exact — throughout the country since day one of lockdown on Friday 27 March.
On Tuesday 2 April, Cele said at the inter-ministerial committee briefing in Pretoria, that there had only been about 2 298 arrests. For those of us who thought that was the nationwide total, we were wrong — it was actually just the total number for 30 March.
Lockdown arrests reach more than 17 000
Cele said there have been a large number of people violating the lockdown laws and regulations, resulting in the high number of arrests — this only in the first week of lockdown.
“What has been a dampener since the beginning of the lockdown has been the consistently high number of people arrested for violating the lockdown regulations,” said Cele citing 2 298 arrests just on 30 March 2020.
Acting police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said that by close of business on 31 March, the total sum of arrests had reached over 17 000 since the kick-off of the lockdown.
The provincial breakdown of total arrests are as follows:
- Gauteng – 1 888
- Western Cape – 4 769
- KwaZulu Natal – 1 845
- Eastern Cape – 1 613
- Northern Cape – 832
- North West – 1 562
- Free State – 3 098
- Mpumalanga – 752
- Limpopo – 850
- Total – 17 209
The Western Cape has recorded the highest number of arrests during lockdown.