By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi held a press briefing on Monday and shed light on the protests that have ensued due to the G20 Leader’s Summit which was held in Nasrec over this weekend.
Lesufi explained to the media that thirteen people were arrested due to violent protesting and various counts of theft as the intended targets were the international delegates and leaders that were in South Africa for the summit.
“You all know, South Africans being South Africans, there was no way we would not have problems,” said Lesufi in the press conference. Lesufi highlighted that Vietnamese delegates had their phones and luggage stolen at Checkers Sandton City mall, as four suspects were immediately arrested.
Another suspect was apprehended at Davinci Hotel over possession of an unauthorised firearm as well as an arrest occurring in Ferndale at the Mercure Hotel, as an South African Police Service (SAPS) officer had their firearm stolen, the authorities arrested two suspects linked with these crimes.
“Among these, 1075 cases were for contact crimes, which include assault, rape, murder, attempted murder, and house robberies” said Lesufi. The Premier had also highlighted that the authorities had intercepted an attempt to raid the Expo Centre, as well a dispute that involved two Brazilian pilots as well as two women from Kempton Park which was resolved by SAPS.
“We systemically tracked the suspects and arrested them in Honeydew, linking them to other crimes” said Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni as he confirmed the arrests linked to G20.
Mthombeni also expressed that SAPS conducted various operations, including Operation Shanela 2, before and during the summit in order to ensure public safety. Mthombeni went as far as to praise law enforcement for their dedication in dealing with these incidents swiftly.
Two members of Operation Dudula were also arrested as they were protesting close to where the summit was being held. Two men,aged 46 and 54, were arrested for harming a police officer during a violent protest; this incident occurred on the first day of the summit on Saturday.
Zandile Dabula, who is the leader of Operation Dudula, was hit with tear gas amid confronting police officers during their protest. Lesufi continued to highlight that Gauteng had received investments amounting between R1 billion-R3 billion.
“We can confirm that there was resounding support for our province. Preliminary reports indicate for that weekend alone, Gauteng scored investment amounts between R1 billion and R3 billion. We are still consolidating these figures from the hotels, travel agencies, and institutions that shared their statistics with ours,” said Lesfufi.
“But we can confirm almost all our hotels were fully booked, the airlines to our province were fully booked, and our malls were busy with visitors, including our tourist destinations in Soweto, Magalies, and Sandton in particular, where the majority of our visitors enjoyed themselves.” added Lesufi.