Two men were arrested in Ramaphosa and charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm which a third accomplice, who is still at large, stole from his former employers and asked the two now arrested men to keep it for him.
The pair made their first court appearance, where the man who kept the gun in his family’s car was granted R1 000 bail. The other accused was remanded in custody. They are both expected to return to court on February 4, where the second accused will formally be applying for bail.
The police subsequently charged the owner with negligent loss of firearm after preliminary investigations revealed that he failed to safeguard his gun, as it was found that the key to the safe was left lying around in the house. It was also found that he failed to report the stolen weapon within a reasonable period of time.
How the drama unfolded
The suspect, who is still at large and formerly worked for the gun owner’s partner, went to the family’s address in Primrose to demand his outstanding salary for November.
When he arrived at the house, he found the wife and the husband still at work. Following an argument with the wife over the outstanding amount, the former employee allegedly slipped into the room where the gun was in a safe, snatched the key to the safe and stole the gun and about R1 600 before leaving the property.
All this apparently happened unbeknown to the wife. When they later discovered that the gun and the money was nowhere to be found, they contacted the suspect, who apparently admitted taking the gun and promised to return it on the condition that the family pays him the outstanding amount. He warned them that failure to pay the money would leave him with no choice but to sell the gun.
Negotiations between the two parties reportedly continued until the man subsequently told the couple that the gun was no longer with him as he had already given it to someone else to keep for him.
It was only then that the couple went to report the matter to the police. Investigations led the police to the man who received the gun and he took them to another man who he had given the gun to keep.
Sgt Mashudu Phathela, Sgt Maxwell Siweya, Const Joy Nthekang and Const Bennet Magane went to the third man’s address and indeed found the gun he had been keeping in the boot of his family’s car, unbeknown to the rest of the family members who had been driving the car around with the stolen weapon hidden in the boot.
Both the second and third suspects were arrested and charged with possession of the illegal firearm. It was also revealed that the gun was loaded with eight bullets when it was stolen, but none of these bullets were found. The gun will be sent for ballistic tests, as police suspect it might have been used to commit a crime.
