The FF Plus wants a probe into the mysterious disappearance of 60 firearms from a police station. Picture: File
Pretoria - The FF Plus in Gauteng has called for a probe into the mysterious disappearance of 60 firearms from an armoury at the Welbekend police station in Pretoria.
Provincial party leader and MPL Kobus Hoffman this week asked Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela to investigate how the firearms disappeared after a police raid on a firearms dealer in Pretoria North. The raid, which took place in 2019, saw 528 firearms being seized.
Hoffman said: “According to reports, a warrant for the search was not provided, and the firearms were taken away by the police and the Hawks.”
He said that over the past three years no charges were filed against the firearms dealer.
“After a settlement was reached between the police and the firearms dealer, it was discovered that 60 firearms had disappeared,” he said.
He expressed worries that the firearms in police custody could easily end up in the wrong hands if not properly managed and controlled.
“Firearms disappearing from a police armoury is unacceptable. There also exists the possibility that these firearms ended up in the hands of criminals who could use them to commit robberies, murders or farm attacks and murders,” he said.
Hoffman also said he asked Mawela to conduct a thorough audit of the firearms currently in police custody in Gauteng.
“If weapons that serve as evidence in criminal cases were to disappear, chances are that those cases will be struck from the court roll. The FF Plus also asked the commissioner to investigate the unlawful raid on the firearms dealer and the police members involved in executing it,” he said.
Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili was, at the time of going for publication, yet to respond to questions on whether Mawela would investigate the circumstances around the firearms or whether there had in the past been such an investigation carried out by the SAPS.
Pretoria News
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