Umkomaas SAPS ‘lost’ most guns in KZN
It is unclear precisely how many firearms had been stolen or reported lost at the Umkomaas station.
Umkomaas SAPS topped the list of police stations which had ‘lost’ the most firearms in the province between 2014 and 2017, reports The Mercury.
An astounding 567 firearms had been reported as either lost or stolen throughout the province.
Precisely how many firearms had been stolen or reported lost at the Umkomaas SAPS was not elaborated on.
A parliamentary reply to the Democratic Alliance has revealed that only 94 firearms had been recovered to date and, despite a total of 34 internal SAPS investigations having been concluded, only one officer has been dismissed after a disciplinary hearing.
Currently, 43 disciplinary hearings are still ongoing.
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Following a reply received from the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Community Safety and Liaison, Mxolisi Kaunda, DA MPL Rishigen Viranna explained that negligence by police officers is a major contributor to the growing problem of illegal firearms within the province.
According to Dr Viranna, the DA will be conducting oversight visits to the Umkomaas police station, as well as various Durban central police stations.
Unsurprisingly, it seems that the Umkomaas SAPS have a history when it comes to firearms disappearing.
In December 2012 six guns were stolen from the exhibits room at the station.
A confidential source told the Mail at the time that, in order to access the exhibits room, three gates had to be opened and that it was impossible for these gates to be out of the sight of people in the charge office.
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