MEDIA STATEMENT

NEWS MEDIA STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE MEC FOR SAFETY SECURITY - MINISTER BHEKI CELE - KWAZULU-NATAL

The South African Police Service nationally has embarked on projects and operations to rid our community of illegal firearms hence endeavouring to make our environment a safe and secure one.

This is indicative that the proliferation of firearms in KwaZulu-Natal is of serious concern to us all.

These operations, particularly Operation Sethunya, have yielded phenomenal successes. It is common knowledge that firearms are the single biggest contributor to serious and violent crimes and for this reason police management has been prompted to put into operation a comprehensive plan with a view of ridding our communities of these weapons.

KwaZulu-Natal has led the way in this project having detected and destroyed the most number of these menacing weapons. Today, since the implementation of these operations and the destruction of firearms , we witness once again and for the sixth time the destruction of over 1000 firearms and parts thereof including barrels, magazines, etc,. These firearms have gone through the entire judicial processes and tested ballistically and are now destined for destruction.

These weapons include AK-47 rifles, other rifles, pistols, revolvers and home-made guns. Operation Sethunya was launched primarily to recover unlicensed firearms and ammunition and secondly to ensure compliance of the Firearm Control Act. This, together with the undying co-operation of the public at large, we have made great headway in achieving our objectives.

Various strategies, including cordon and searches, roadblocks and vehicle check points were implemented. Crime Intelligence also played a prominent role in gathering intelligence on the detection of illegal firearms.

The successes achieved in this regard must also be attributed to the commitment of our dedicated police officers who strive tirelessly to ensure the safety and security of the people of KZN and our visitors to this province. This commitment has resulted in the recovery of over 6500 thousand illegal firearms. This does not include the firearms and ammunition recovered by the security forces in normal day to day policing activities.

With the implementation of the new Firearms Control Act, we hope to curb the negligent loss and theft of firearms seemed to have plagued us in the recent past. Having said this I want to also urge licensed firearm holders to ensure the safety of their firearms. Firearms when not carried on person should be stored in a safe so that children are not allowed easy access to them.

The Honourable Premier, in his State of the Province address has directed my department to produce a comprehensive plan to addressing de-armament. We are looking at how the recovery illegal firearms s being handled so that we may be sure that these firearms do not go back into circulation and use.

The identified areas where de-armament will take place are the Taxi Industry, Political Violence, Organised Crime and psychological disarmament.

In the past year police in KwaZulu-Natal have embarked on five destructions and have destroyed a total of 4763 and parts thereof. The destruction of these firearms through this process will ensure that the firearms will never be circulated or used to commit crimes.

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