Скачать или смотреть Where are all the guns in Cape Town coming from?

Firearm violence continues to sweep across the country, with the focus shifting to the thousands of firearms registered with private security industry, municipal enforcement sector and the South African Police Service. Read more below...

The continuous supply of illegal firearms into the hands of gangs on the Cape Flats must be investigated, but as the City we need to be conscious how effective we are in safeguarding firearms that are registered to the enforcement staff within our directorate.

Our officers undergo certified training according to the legislative requirements, which must be annually renewed, proving that each member is competent and qualified to carry the weapon entrusted to them.

Our firearms and ammunition are safely stored in secure environments when not in use. All weapons and ammunition under municipal control are audited monthly.

As one of the largest municipal custodians of firearms in South Africa, we take our responsibility seriously. Besides all of the legislative requirements, we have implemented additional measures of accountability to ensure stringent control over any firearm and ammunition we issue to staff.

Any potential irregularity detected within the audit process results in a full investigation of the member concerned and we maintain a strict policy of disciplinary action against any member found guilty of a contravention.

Recently, during a parliamentary question, it was revealed that SAPS has lost 103 of their firearms over a 3-year period, with around 1 million rounds of ammunition lost each year.

Over the same period, our members unfortunately lost two of our allocated firearms. With even one firearm being one too many, each occurrence gives rise to a full investigation. Already our investigations has resulted in one of the firearms being recovered, while investigations on the second firearm continue.

If we are to maintain a high level of public confidence in our municipality, we need to continuously demonstrate our action and diligence in this regard.