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Over 1 000 arrested in Free State Safer Festive Season operation

SABC News · 18 October 2026 at 19:48

More than 1 000 people have been arrested in the Free State during the Safer Festive Season action plan as part of Operation Shanela Two.

Police spokesperson Thandi Mbambo says the operations forces were conducted across all five districts of the province.

The suspects were arrested for various offences, including nine for murder, 39 for attempted murder, 32 for rape and 165 for assault grievous bodily harm (GBH).

Mbambo says during the operations, the team searched 498 premises and 48 556 people as well as 13 576 vehicles.

OPERATION SHANELA II | The Free State Provincial Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure has arrested 1,032 suspects during high-density crime prevention operations conducted under Operation Shanela II as part of the Safer Festive Season action plan. https://t.co/cmepWyZ6XH — SABC News (@SABCNews) October 18, 2026

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5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.sabcnews.com — the content belongs to SABC News.

Over 1 000 arrested in Free State Safer Festive Season operation

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