Johannesburg's Executive Mayor Amos Masondo launches Operation Token Days

RELATED LINKS: Joburg's crime fighting operation ongoing IN JUST one week several illegal inner city schools were closed down, 50 beggars removed from major intersections and several unlawful boom gates taken down - all part of a campaign to stamp out infringements of the City's by-laws. Read more Police raid Joburg clubs AS PART of Operation Token Days, metro police teamed up with other City departments and the South African police to target nightclubs and shebeens in southern Johannesburg. Read more Mayor unveils major crime fighting operation FOR the next 500 days, members of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department will be out in force, apprehending fugitives, confiscating illegal firearms, closing illegal taverns, impounding unroadworthy vehicles and removing hawkers trading from restricted areas. Read more

The canine unit in operation (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)

Metro police lists its successes IT HAS been over a year since Operation Token Days was launched, and Joburg's metro police has recorded many successes. January 10, 2006 By Tammy O'Reilly JOBURG'S metro police are continuing their quest to combat crime and lawlessness in the city, and the results for the first year of a mammoth 500-day crime-busting campaign attest to that. Operation Token Days was launched on 9 November 2004, a commitment by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department to spend the next 500 days actively targeting criminals and ensuring adherence to the City's by-laws. With help from the South African Police Service and other agencies, the operation set its sight on crime hotspots like Hillbrow, Soweto, Orange Farm, Newtown, Diepsloot and Alexandra. All metro police officers were specially trained in handling arrests and presenting cases in court. In the year since the operation was launched, more than 2 million motorists were caught speeding, more than 1 000 people were arrested for serious crimes and more than 400 000 vehicles were searched. Between November 2004 and November 2005 six operations took place under the Operation Token Days banner, with each one targeting specific offences. In the first venture, Operation Jozi, 630 563 vehicles were stopped and 746 of those drivers were arrested for drunken driving. Metro police also used sophisticated electronic equipment as part of Operation Bumblebee, during which 124 875 drivers were fined for going through red robots and a whopping 2 181 573 people were fined for speeding. In its attempt to make travelling safer for drivers and taxi passengers, metro police launched Operation Winged Heart. In total 1 941 unroadworthy taxis were impounded and 4 888 drivers had their licences confiscated. These were to be returned once they could present certificates of roadworthiness for their vehicles. The City's by-laws were the focus of Operation Nude Ants. Illegal hawkers were targeted, goods were impounded and 72 000 illegal posters were removed. Operation Token Days ends in April. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za