GUNS TAKEN BY POLICE

Gun confiscated by police and placed in evidence bag. Image: Twitter: @SAPoliceService

Gunfree South Africa takes the police to court

NGO seeks to see the destruction of guns in police custody to be undertaken sooner, in order to not get into the hands of criminals.

GUNS TAKEN BY POLICE

Gun confiscated by police and placed in evidence bag. Image: Twitter: @SAPoliceService

Gunfree South Africa has called on the police to destroy illegal firearms that have been confiscated sooner. This comes after the Western Cape Police Oversight Department revealed that over 700 firearms, confiscated in the first quarter of 2023, have still not been destroyed.

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POLICE NOT TRUSTED WITH ILLEGAL GUNS

Last week the NGO filed a class action suit at the Western Cape High Court against the Police over their failure to keep the confiscated guns from reaching the hands of gangsters. Speaking to the SABC, GunfreeSA Director Adele Kirsten explains the grounds of their lawsuit.

“We have evidence which demonstrates that guns in the direct control of the state, that were earmarked for destruction were stolen and then distributed by Prinsloo into criminal hands. So its exactly that there are grounds for a class suit- in fact 261 that we have names of” says Kirsten.

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WHO IS PRINSLOO?

In 2016, former policeman Colonel Christiaan Prinsloo was found guilty of a number of charges including theft, corruption and racketeering and sentenced to 18years behind bars.

Prinsloo a veteran cop, was in charge of gun licensing in Gauteng sold over 2400 guns between 2007 and 2015 with his co-accused Allen Raves. The pair is believe to have benefitted with around R2million from their operation.

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The Daily Maverick reported that, according to Project Impi investigations focusing on the period from 2010 to 2016, had allegedly resulted in:

  • The shooting of 261 children (according to GFSA, 187 children were killed);
  • At least 1,666 murders; and
  • At least 1,403 attempted murders.


Kirsten still believes there is over a thousand ‘Prinsloo guns’ in the hands of criminals.

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“We have all the evidence we’re bringing to court. Project Impi stops in 2016 and that’s when it would appear that going after the ‘Prinsloo guns’ stops. There is still over a 1000 ‘Prinsloo guns’ out there”, she says.

“Project impi is a good example of good policing. Of intelligence driven policing. It’s the police’s own investigation” she adds.

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