Mogale City Local Municipality in partnership with its law enforcement partners swept the Central Business District (CBD) streets on Wednesday to conduct Operation Fiela and Aga Mogale City.
Member of Mayoral Committee responsible for Public Safety Francis Makgatho said the CBD is a crime hotspot with incidents ranging from business robberies, drug trafficking, unlicensed taverns to carjackings.
The operation yielded positive results as over 20 undocumented foreign nationals were handed over to Home Affairs immigration officers for processing, businesses operating with expired licences and those that sell expired food were closed. The operation also flowed out to the streets where products and equipment belonging to street vendors operating without permits were confiscated for contravening hawker by-laws.
“This operation comes on the back of several complaints from community members about businesses that sell expired food. We are pleased with the work that was done here today and with the help of our law enforcement agencies, we were able to penetrate some areas of concern in the CBD,” Councillor Makgatho said.
“However as a caring government, we could not only shutdown these businesses operating with expired licensing without giving out information related to renewing business licences. We further urge businesspeople to refrain from employing foreign nationals without confirming the legitimacy of their legal documents,” he added.
Operation Fiela and Aga Mogale City- Reclaim Mogale City, is a multidisciplinary interdepartmental operation done in partnership with West Rand District Municipality, SAPS, Home Affairs Immigration department, Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens and Gauteng Traffic Department.