by Siviwe Zibi
South African Police Service raided Johannesburg central on Wednesday this comes after they clashed with the shop owners who are foreign nationals last week on Thursday. During the raid, the cops confiscated counterfeit goods, guns, and ammunition. Over 600 foreign nationals have been taken in for verification of status in the country and criminal records.
The Premier of Gauteng David Makhura said we are cleaning up our CBD and we will not rest until we take our City back. We are sending a strong message to all those who think they can occupy buildings illegally. We will continue in other cities and CBDs on regular basis, joint operations by our law enforcement agencies will make South Africa and Gauteng safer.
“Counterfeit goods are destroying the economy and we are calling on of government to ensure that in all our ports of entry the counterfeits are stopped. These goods are also destroying the manufacturing sector; we are going to shut down businesses that are operating illegally. Some of these goods are poisonous that’s why we have an outbreak of unknown diseases. The owners of the buildings where counterfeit goods were found are in big trouble we are taking these buildings back,” said Makhura.
Police minister Bheki Cele said “We had to come back here after what happened last week Thursday. Those foreign nationals who fought against police last week were protecting criminal activities in the CBD. We are not cowards and there’s no country that can be run by criminals. It could have been a bloodbath and I want to praise the police the way they reacted to the situation last week. We will win this battle it can’t go on like this forever.”
