Slow rate of destroying illegal firearms a risk to WC safety
15 September 2019
On Thursday, the Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, received an oral question from Reagen Allen, MPL, during the parliamentary sitting. In the reply, it was revealed that the destruction of illegal firearms is delayed by SAPS due to a lack of suitable premises for the destruction of illegal firearms in the Province. Currently all of the Western Cape’s illegal firearms are destroyed in Gauteng, bi-annually.
Minister Fritz has highlighted that both the delay in destroying firearms and that the firearms are not destroyed in the Western Cape are a potential safety threat.
SAPS outlined that in the absence of a suitable venue to destroy firearms, that the following steps are taken:
- Weekly interventions conducted at identified stations on firearms currently held in the SAPS 13 (exhibit) stores;