Amid growing concerns over the surge in gun violence and mass shootings in the country, the South African Police Service (Saps) says it’s intensifying operations to detect and remove illegal firearms and ammunition from the hands of criminals.
This follows the recent destruction of 18 927 illegal firearms last Thursday.
Illegal firearms
Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe says police in the past 12 months have permanently removed 65 519 firearms from circulation. Most of these firearms included handguns, rifles, and shotguns as well as firearm parts and combination firearms.
“These had either been seized during crime prevention and Intelligence-driven operations; voluntarily surrendered; or forfeited to the state during the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 Firearms Amnesty period,” said Mathe in a statement on Monday.
Ballistic testing
Prior to the recent firearm destruction, Mathe said 20 590 firearms were destroyed in July 2022 and 26 002 destroyed in March 2022.
She confirmed that all 65 519 firearms were cleared after they had been subjected to ballistic testing to determine if they had possibly been utilized during the commission of any crime.
“Of these firearms, the majority of firearms were either surrendered and voluntarily handed over to the state during the 2019/2020 as well as the 2020/2021 Firearms Amnesty period, confiscated and seized by police during intelligence-driven operations, routine stop and searches as well as tip-offs from community members that are committed to ensuring that illegal firearms are permanently removed from circulation.”
Tip-offs
Police thanked the public for playing a big part in ensuring the safety of citizens, as some of the firearms were recovered as a result of tip-offs from community members.
“Illegal firearms pose a threat to the safety and security of the inhabitants of this country. The Service therefore remains confident that destroying these firearms will ensure that they are permanently removed from circulation, and lives spared.”
In other news – ‘We want a baby’: A look into Nadia Nakai and AKA’s last moments together
Mzansi female rapper Nadia Nakai has been a concern of the country as she has recently experienced one of the most tragic losses. Over the two years of being alleged and later confirmed that she was in a relationship with male rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes, Nadia has had to bid farewell to her lovers, as it was reported earlier in the week:
It is a sad day in South Africa following the events of Friday, 10 February 2023. This is as the country has lost rapper and Hip-Hop legend, Kiernan “AKA” Forbes at the age of 35 years old. Learn More