Police working to rid SA of guns used in violent crimes - Masemola

This is according to national police commissioner Fannie Masemola, who gave an update on police operations in Kempton Park on Thursday.

Masemola said gun violence remains a concern, especially amid concerns over deadly shootouts between criminals and police in KwaZulu-Natal.

READ MORE: KZN police kill wanted suspects in Empangeni

One hundred and six firearms were seized in South Africa between the 22nd and 28th of July.

According to Masemola, 90 of these were handguns, seven were rifles, eight were homemade guns, and one was a shotgun.

High-calibre weapons are often used in cash-in-transit heists.

According to police, in the last month, six suspects were arrested during a confrontation with police and 13 others were arrested after they were linked to CIT robberies.

“In the latest incident, five suspects linked to a cash-in-transit armed robbery that happened on Monday this week were traced to their hide-out in Keiskammahoek in the Eastern Cape a few hours after robbing a cash van of an undisclosed amount of money between East London and Macleantown on the N6. When police officers approached their hide-out, they were met with a hail of bullets – police returned fire – and when the dust had settled, five suspects were declared dead on the scene,” reported Masemola.

KZN FATAL SHOOTOUTS

Acknowledging concern over the deadly exchange between criminals and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) police, General Masemola says officers are often left with little choice but to fire back.

“It is important to clarify that our mandate as the SAPS is to bring perpetrators to justice by arresting them, but quite often, in pursuit of arresting these often dangerous and heavily armed criminals, our police officers are more than often met with heavy gunfire and that leaves our officers with no option but to defend themselves and the communities that they serve.”

On Tuesday evening, police in KZN were tracing suspects who were linked and wanted in at least 13 cases of business robbery and car hijacking in the Cator Manor and Durban Central Policing Precinct when they exchanged fire with the suspects, leaving five suspects dead.  

OPERATION VALA UMGODI - ILLICIT MINING

To date, 9,297 suspects have been arrested for various crimes in relation to illicit mining activities in Gauteng, North West, Northern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Kwazulu-Natal, and Free State.

This week, four suspects were arrested and charged for the North West tavern shooting that left eighteen people dead and 14 others wounded in Kanana near Klerksdorp.

READ MORE: NW police arrest six suspects for Klerksdorp, Rustenburg mass shootings

Through Operation Vala Umgodi, where the SAPS is working in close collaboration with the South African National Defence Force, Home Affairs, and the Department of Minerals and Energy, more than 375,000 operations have been conducted since December 2023.

“Through these operations, 233 firearms and more than 5,800 rounds of ammunition were seized. 50 big mining machinery, including TLBs and front loaders, were seized, and trucks involved in these illicit activities were also confiscated.”

The suspects in the Kanana shooting are expected back in the Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court next Wednesday.