Phoenix link probed in ammo looting
Pastor’s son charged with possession of unlicensed rounds
● The son of a prominent Phoenix pastor is being investigated by police for allegedly being in possession of some of the 1.2-million rounds of ammunition stolen from a consignment in Durban during the violence and looting last month.
Mirandin Kaylyn Reddy, 26, who has been charged with possession of unlicensed ammunition, possession of suspected stolen goods and contravention of the Private Security Industry Regulation Act, appeared with nine others in the Verulam magistrate’s court on Friday. He is the son of church leader and community activist Pastor Mervyn Reddy.
Police are investigating whether the ammunition was part of the shipment stolen from a container yard in Mobeni on July 14 during the mayhem in KwaZulu-Natal.
The ammunition was imported from Brazil by Formalito, one of SA’s largest wholesalers of firearms and ammunition. It was intended for sale to private individuals, government agencies and private security companies.
Reddy is the owner of G4U Protection Services in Phoenix, which, according to his attorney, Chris Gounden, is in the process of being registered with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority.
Gounden told the Sunday Times that the state was “trumping up charges”.
“It is highly improbable that the ammunition stolen in Mobeni can be linked to my client. Police only arrested him because they wanted him to implicate people — which he couldn’t do because he doesn’t know who was involved in the alleged acts of vigilantism.”
Concern has been expressed about why the consignment was moved to the container yard and the fact that it included 9mm hollow-point or “dumdum” rounds.
Hollow-point rounds, which are favoured by many police forces around the world, are more lethal because they expand rapidly when they hit flesh. They also complicate forensic investigations.
The chair of parliament’s portfolio committee on police, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, said the committee was “extremely concerned” about the theft and had quizzed police minister Bheki Cele and senior police management about it at two recent meetings.
“This concern is based on the implications that the looted ammunition has for the overall fight against the proliferation of arms and ammunition, and the possibility of it being used to commit criminal acts,” she said.
“The committee was assured that an investigation is under way and some recoveries were made, but the fact that some of the ammunition remains on the streets and possibly in the wrong hands is concerning.”
She said police told the committee that two people, one aged 16, had been arrested in Montclair, Durban, with 3,950 9mm rounds.
The Hawks, tasked with investigating the missing consignment, did not respond to queries about the hollow-point rounds or the status of the investigation.
Sune Morton, a spokesperson for Outdoor Investment Holdings, Formalito’s parent company, said it could not be held accountable for the missing consignment because it fell under the authority of the clearing agents, customs authority, port authority and the police at different times. She did not respond to queries about the dumdum bullets.
University of Zululand criminology professor Johan Ras said the theft “reeked” of a cover-up. “I don’t believe that 1.2-million rounds can be stolen. There is blatant talk among officials of an insurrection so the question is, who is in possession of these rounds and what is their real purpose?”
Others who appeared in the Verulam magistrate’s court on Friday include Dylan Govender, 29, Ned Govender, 30, and Jeetendra Jaikissoon, 39, who all face charges of murder. Dylan Govender is facing a further charge of attempted murder.
Justin Hira, 32, was charged with possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of drugs, while Seelan Chetty, 24, and Owen Chinnasamy, 23, were both charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of malicious injury to property.
In Gauteng to date, 1,704 people have been arrested for looting.
Gauteng premier David Makhura’s office said on Friday 1,001 cases had been opened in connection with a total of 68 incidents of looting. It said 79 people had died in the mayhem and the preliminary damage estimate in Gauteng stood at more than R3.5bn.
Four people have been charged with inciting violence: Patriotic Alliance mayoral candidate Bruce Nimmerhoudt, former Ukhozi FM DJ Ngizwe Mchunu, Sibusiso Mavuso and ANC West Rand branch secretary Clarence Keke Tabane, all of whom have been granted bail.