Govt a source of firearms for criminals - FF Plus

This comes as a total of 71 state-issued firearms disappeared from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) over the last five years.

This was revealed by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services as well as the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans.

They responded to questions raised by FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald in Parliament in November.

Groenewald says the government is failing to address this matter with the urgency it deserves.

"Much pressure is put on private legal firearm owners by the government, but the government itself is a source of providing illegal firearms to criminals in South Africa. I have asked a question in Parliament to the minister of police, correctional services as well as the defence force on how many firearms were lost or stolen in their departments.

"The numbers are disturbing, and it is quite clear from that, there is no proper firearm control in these departments. These firearms used by criminals make the government complicit with those criminals. In 2016, it had already been found that the 2000 firearms that were stolen from police could be linked to the killing of 89 children and the wounding of 170 children; there is a class action to the minister of police because of this.

"We can change the situation in South Africa very easily and turn it around, and that is if the government takes full responsibility and ensures that there is proper control when it comes to firearms in their departments."

He adds that firearms stolen from the SAPS evidence storage units are proof that the government and police are adding to crime in the country.

Police Minister Bheki Cele told Parliament that a total of 357 firearms stored as police evidence countrywide had been stolen since the 2020/2021 financial year.

So far, six private people have been arrested in connection with this.

Groenewald says it is quite confusing that no police member has been arrested.

"The minister of police admitted that 357 firearms were stolen from evidence stores in the police known as the SAPS 13 stores. These firearms are crucial for court cases as evidence, and we know that firearms are usually used in serious violent crimes such as murder or robbery.

"This means that these court cases will not be successful because of this theft. The question is, 'why only six private individuals have been arrested and no members of the police services who are supposed to manage these stores?' This is the other proof that the government and the police, in these cases, are actually enhancing violent crimes in South Africa."      

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