Nearly 300,000 arrested in South Africa for violating lockdown in Covid era

Nearly 300,000 people have been arrested in South Africa for violating the lockdown laws that were introduced at the end of March to combat the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, according to the figures released here.

Minister of Police Bheki Cele announced the quarterly crime statistics on Friday.

At the start of the lockdown, Cele had warned that people contravening the regulations would end up with a criminal record which would impact on issues such as their future job prospects.

But at the statistics announcement, he said his colleague in the Ministry of Justice was looking at ways to avoid this.

"Unfortunately, most of the people arrested will come out with criminal records and it is not our aim to criminalise South Africans. This is why the minister of justice and correctional services are looking at this issue," Cele said.

He said about 300,000 people had been arrested in South Africa for violating the lockdown laws.

"28,337 of those arrested were found guilty of violations ranging from liquor, gathering, transport, business and cross-border related offence," he said.

During the lockdown, sale and transportation of alcohol, public gatherings of people, travelling without a permit for essential services, and inter-provincial travel were all prohibited.

More than half of those arrested were not held in prison but were released with a warning to appear in court later to face charges.

Cele said the initial ban on alcohol, which was reintroduced briefly before being reintroduced due to a spike in violent crimes, had seen a drop of more than 37 per cent during the three-month period in crimes such as murder, assault and robbery, which were often attributed to alcohol abuse.

Cele also lamented the involvement of police force members in some of these crimes.

"While we have a police service that strives for excellence, some within our ranks still choose to operate in darkness and in criminality. A total of 163 officers were arrested from the start of the lockdown for violating the very same regulations they were meant to enforce," the minister said.