VEREENIGING. – The destruction of over 30 000 illegal firearms was recently led by Police Minister, Bheki Cele, and National Police Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole.
The destruction took place at the Arcelor Mittal plant in Vereeniging on Wednesday. Minister Cele stated that Police remain committed to taking illegall firearms and ammunition off the streets as they pose a big threat to the safety of citizens.The destroyed firearms were either seized, surrendered or forfeited to the state.
Since the last national firearm destruction on October 27 of 2016, the SAPS have seized a large quantity of illegal firearms through planned operations resulting in the accumulation in safe storage facilities.
Minister Cele says, “The leading province with seized guns was Gauteng, followed by Eastern Cape.” he further stated that Police will stop at nothing to win the fight agains the scourge of illegal firearms in the country.
General Sitole says, “In order to prevent the commission of serious and violent crimes and to stamp the authority of the State, Police have to continue to actively detect and remove these illegal firearms from circulation.”
