Curbing illegal firearms

FOLLOWING the recent deaths of four people in KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Town, calls are being made to fast-track investigations into violent crimes committed with firearms that are possibly illegal.

A KZN councillor, S’bu Maphumulo, was shot and killed in uMlazi and four others have suffered the same fate in two separate incidents in Cape Town.

The chairperson of the portfolio committee on police, Francois Beukman, said they were concerned by the steady growth in the illegal firearm pool – adding that more than 800 firearms had been stolen from police stations and citizens in the 2017/18 financial year.

In May, the portfolio committee recommended that the police prioritise five steps to effectively deal with the proliferation of illegal firearms:

Channel more resources to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation's specialised unit focusing on illegal firearms.

Implement more projects and network operations initiated by crime intelligence to deal with gun smuggling by criminal syndicates.

Enforce stricter control measures in the SAPS stores and stations and in the arms supply of the SANDF.

Ensure closer co-operation with other South African Development Community countries to deal with the proliferation and influx of high-calibre automatic firearms in the region.

Conduct a full-scale review of the Firearms Registry turn-around strategy and a forensic audit of high-risk areas in the licensing of firearms, as well as permits and authorisations.