By Marcus Moloko
Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni has revealed that illegal immigrants were among the numbers picked up in provincial crime statistics, with hundreds arrested weekly under the ongoing Operation Shanela crackdown.
Presenting the fourth-quarter crime statistics for 2025/2026 at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Mthombeni said law enforcement agencies had made 36,122 arrests between January and March 2026, including 11,715 undocumented foreign nationals.
“Let me take this opportunity to highlight the successes achieved for Operation Shanela II,” Mthombeni told legislators.
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“The total number of arrests for this quarter, Honourable Chairperson, Members, Honourable Premier, is 36,122 of which 11,715 were illegal immigrants.”
He added the province was seeing between 500 and 900 arrests of illegal immigrants per week, reflecting the scale of the operation’s impact.
“We are mindful of the current situation in the country and what is happening in the province in terms of the anti-foreign national sentiment,” Mthombeni cautioned.
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“Our focus remains on enforcing the law fairly and ensuring that all persons within Gauteng are accounted for under the law.”
Operation Shanela is a high-density crime-fighting initiative led by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs and other agencies.
The operation targets illegal mining, drug trafficking, undocumented migration, and organized crime across Gauteng’s urban and peri-urban areas.
According to Mthombeni, the arrests of undocumented immigrants form part of a broader effort to restore law and order and reduce violent crime, which remains a major concern in the province.
“We are not targeting people based on nationality,” he said.
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