A MOTHER (37) and son (20) were arrested at their homestead at Mistake Farm near Umzinto on Monday this week for being in possession of firearms and ammunition and other assorted items.
They are due to appear in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court this week.
Police seized an R5 rifle with three magazines, a 9mm Norinco pistol loaded with nine live rounds of ammunition, two bulletproof vests, two police reflective jackets, a crime scene expert jacket, a can of teargas, a can of photographic spray, a miner’s headlamp, a pair of handcuffs, 38 shotgun rounds and 285 R5 rounds of ammunition.
“Commander of the Umzinto SAPS Detective Service, Captain Siva ‘RP’ Pillay and a team of his detectives gathered intelligence regarding a firearm that had been used in an attempted murder case that they were investigating and raided the suspects’ homestead,” said police spokesman Captain Vincent Pandarum.
“A search of the rondavel occupied by the son resulted in police finding the shotgun ammunition and the police equipment. Thereafter, police carried out a search of the main house which is occupied by his parents and they discovered a hole in the concrete floor of the bedroom beneath the bed. It was boarded up to conceal the 285 live rounds of R5 ammunition,” said Capt Pandarum.
Police also found a disused deep freeze with the R5 rifle and three magazines and the Norinco pistol which was loaded with nine rounds of ammunition. The serial numbers of both guns had been ground off.
The mother was placed under arrest and the son was found in a taxi and was arrested. “The arrested woman’s husband, who is in his 40s, handed himself over to the Umzinto police. He will also be appearing in court with his wife and son,” said Capt Pandarum.
Meanwhile, investigations revealed that the police equipment, other than the firearms and ammunition, may have been stolen from a SAPS police vehicle that had been broken into in Durban during 2012. A policeman based in Pretoria had come to Durban on official police duty when his state vehicle was broken into and the equipment stolen.
The firearms will be forwarded to the SAPS forensic department for ballistics tests to determine if they had been used to commit any other offences. Investigations continue.
