‘Those with illegal guns will be hunted’

POLICE Minister Bheki Cele has sent a stern warning to South Africans in possession of illegal firearms, saying the police will hunt them down.

Only three months remain before the amnesty period, during which those with illegal guns can surrender them to police, expires.

“If they don’t bring the guns to us we will go where the guns are and get the guns back to us,” said Cele.

The minister was briefing the security cluster in Parliament.

He maintained that although there were thousands of illegal guns on the street, the police recovered millions of rounds of ammunition every year.

Since the amnesty period began last year, a total of 80 000 guns have been handed over to the police.

Cele admitted criminals would not hand over their firearms, adding it was the duty of police to ensure those firearms were recovered from criminals.

He said he wanted the country to be gun-free.

The ministers in the security cluster said they were dealing with crime in the country. .

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said officials were concerned about the budget cuts to her department. However, she was quick to point out that her department was not the only one affected by reduced expenditure.

She said several departments were in a similar position..

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has set aside billions of rand in cost-saving measures for the next three years.

This week, President Cyril Ramaphosa said all public officials must implement cost-cutting measures, involving, among others, flying economy class instead of business class.