A man travelling in a BMW X5 loaded with alcohol, number plates and a gun was among several motorists nabbed during a roadblock led by police minister Bheki Cele on the N3 in Pietermaritzburg.
The man, whose car wasn’t displaying number plates, tried to explain to the minister number plates from various provinces in the vehicle were there when he bought it. He was taken to the nearby Mountain Rise police cells.
Cele said police flagged down motorists driving cars that posed a threat to themselves and other road users.
He said the police presence on highways should be extended.
He was accompanied by provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, immigration officials, road traffic inspectorate officers and senior Msunduzi traffic police officers.
Cele also visited the Liberty Midlands Mall where he interacted with shoppers.
Cele said he was satisfied with festive season anti-crime operations throughout the country — except in Cape Town, where a policeman was shot and stabbed. Four people were arrested.
Mkhwanazi said 1,600 police constables had finished their training in December and half of them had been deployed to bolster efforts to manage crowds.
