The South African Police Service (SAPS) has permanently removed 46 592 firearms from circulation in a period of six months. This follows a firearms destruction process where firearms, ammunition and firearm parts which had either been seized during crime prevention operations, voluntarily surrendered or forfeited to the state were destroyed in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng.

Today, 20 590 of the firearms were destroyed, 15 465 of those destroyed are handguns while 2686 are rifles, 1855 are shotguns and the rest are firearm parts.

In March this year, 26 002 were also destroyed, bringing the total number of firearms and firearm parts destroyed to 46 592.

The process to demolish the firearms today was overseen by the Divisional Commissioner responsible for Visible Policing and Operations, Lieutenant General Michael Mohlala.

All firearms that have been destroyed were subjected to Ballistic testing to determine if they were utilised in any commission of a crime. The SAPS confirms that all firearms have been cleared.

Of the 46 592 firearms, the majority of firearms were either surrendered and voluntarily handed over to the state during the 2019/2020 as well as the 2020/2021 Firearms Amnesty period, confiscated and seized by police during intelligence driven operations, routine stop and searches as well as tip-offs from community members that are committed to ensuring that illegal firearms are permanently removed from circulation.

The SAPS will continue to intensify its operations to detect and remove illegal firearms and ammunition from the streets of South Africa, as they pose a threat to the safety and security of the inhabitants of this country. The organization therefore takes this opportunity to commend members of the public for playing a part in making South Africa a safer place to live in. The Service remains confident that destroying these firearms will ensure that they are permanently removed from circulation.

Source: South African Police Service