A special New Year’s Eve police operation conducted jointly by the Johannesburg Metro police, the SA Police Service and the SA National Defence Force in Hillbrow, Johannesburg was hailed as a success by the Metro police on Wednesday, despite gunshots being heard intermittently.
Metro police representative Wayne Minnaar said about 270 personnel were involved in the security operation, which saw 790 cars stopped and searched. Seventy-four people were ticketed for traffic offences, and three arrested for drunken driving. A car was also impounded for obstructing a vehicle entrance.
Minnaar said 46 people were injured, two seriously, after various objects such as ”rocks, bottles, beds and television sets” were hurled down from flats. He said the roads most affected by the strewn objects were Claim, Smit and Quartz streets.
Minnaar said this year’s festivities in Hillbrow seemed quieter than usual, and attributed this to the combined police operation.
Meanwhile, just after midnight Cape Town and Bloemfontein did not have any incidents to report. The police in Durban and Port Elizabeth were unavailable at that time. – Sapa