Pretoria - Police in Limpopo have procured a fleet of 13 high-performance vehicles for the provincial Highway Patrol Unit.
The unit is mandated with combating a spate of crimes along the highway between Limpopo and Gauteng.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said the vehicles were meant to enhance the unit’s capacity in dealing with criminal activities on all roads, especially the N1.
Although Mojapelo could not divulge how much the seven BMW and six VW Golf GTIs cost the taxpayer, he told the Pretoria News yesterday: “Looking at the high levels of crime on the N1 between Limpopo and Gauteng, it was absolutely necessary to get the cars so that we can combat crimes on the highway.”
The N1 is the major route from Musina in Limpopo to Gauteng’s entry point in Hammanskraal, with trucks and other vehicles being required to run for 24 hours.
It is also used by criminal syndicates to traffic firearms, drugs and other illegal products into the province, believed to be from the Beitbridge, bordering Zimbabwe in Musina to Hammanskraal near Pretoria.
The looting of trucks has also become a popular trend.
Last week, the Pretoria News reported that three prisoners who had escaped from police custody a week earlier were rearrested and handed hefty sentences for their role in a spate of armed robberies along the N1 highway between Limpopo and Gauteng.
Other crimes on the freeway include bandits who pounce on unsuspecting motorists, throwing spikes on the road puncturing their cars’ tyres to get them to stop so they can rob them.
MEC for Transport and Community Safety Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya said the new fleet would only be used for the benefit of the community.
Pretoria News