SANDF and SAPS search congregants for firearms outside the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Pictures: Tracy Lee Stark
The MCK Micro Glock conversion kit, a Dashprod SAR M14 and what appeared to be an AK103, in the family of the AK-47, seized along with 68 other firearms during a bloody hostage drama at a church in Zuurbekom, west of Johannesburg, have caught the interest of a military expert.
Darren Olivier, defence expert and director at African Defence Review, said these semiautomatic weapons were not for general issue in the SA National Defence Force and SA Police Service (SAPS).
“There are very few MCK Micro Glock conversion kits in the SANDF military police and none of those are known to have been lost. These are guns locally available for security firms in SA and even for sports. These are semiautomatic weapons whereas the SAPS and SANDF would use fully automatic, where you hold the trigger and it keeps going,” he said.
Olivier noted the Dashprod SAR M14 model was only available in SA and was a conversion of a Bulgarian weapon. He said it was imported by a SA gun dealership and slightly modified then marketed as a local weapon.
Also read: Police probe Zuurbekom church factional feud allegations
According to police, members of the Saps, SANDF, Johannesburg Metro Police and the department of correctional services were among the 46 people arrested. Seventeen rifles, 24 shotguns, 27 pistols, more than 330 rounds of ammunition, explosives and nine vehicles were recovered.
Although so many weapons were found on the scene, Olivier said it was still unclear who was carrying them, whether they had licences and which side these guns belonged to.
“It is certainly quite a number of guns but not much more than a typical security company would deploy in a given night. It is a lot but we are not talking [the amount to sustain] mini wars, insurrection or things like that,” he said.
Also read: Cops, soldiers and correctional services officials among those arrested in Zuurbekom hostage drama
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