Canaan Mdletshe
Canaan Mdletshe
The DA has revealed shocking figures that 824 police firearms were allegedly stolen or went missing in KwaZulu-Natal over the past three years.
"We are outraged to learn that so many firearms have been stolen or lost in a period of three years.
"It is simply unacceptable that the police service, which is tasked with keeping South Africans safe, has become one of the major sources of weapons for criminals, and the DA believes that SAPS officers must be held liable when their negligent behaviour leads to weapons being fed onto the streets," said Dianne Kohler-Barnard, the party's national spokesperson on safety.
She said in no circumstances should a weapon ever be left unattended in a police station, yet there was ample evidence that this was exactly what was going on.
To illustrate the extent of the problem, Kohler-Barnard said that in February the SAPS-Metro police joint operations centre near Boscombe Terrace was held up by armed robbers, who stole 15 police weapons.
"The weapons that were taken had apparently been left lying around in a bag, and, according to reports, only two reservists were on duty at the time," she said.
Anger over 824 missing SAPS guns
Canaan Mdletshe
Canaan Mdletshe
The DA has revealed shocking figures that 824 police firearms were allegedly stolen or went missing in KwaZulu-Natal over the past three years.
"We are outraged to learn that so many firearms have been stolen or lost in a period of three years.
"It is simply unacceptable that the police service, which is tasked with keeping South Africans safe, has become one of the major sources of weapons for criminals, and the DA believes that SAPS officers must be held liable when their negligent behaviour leads to weapons being fed onto the streets," said Dianne Kohler-Barnard, the party's national spokesperson on safety.
She said in no circumstances should a weapon ever be left unattended in a police station, yet there was ample evidence that this was exactly what was going on.
To illustrate the extent of the problem, Kohler-Barnard said that in February the SAPS-Metro police joint operations centre near Boscombe Terrace was held up by armed robbers, who stole 15 police weapons.
"The weapons that were taken had apparently been left lying around in a bag, and, according to reports, only two reservists were on duty at the time," she said.
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