The South African Police has destroyed over 26,000 illegal weapons seized by the military and the police over the past year.
The Police destroyed a total number of 26,002 firearms in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng, on Thursday, including machine guns, rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers, as well as a large amount of ammunition.
In a statement, the South African Police revealed that 26 002 firearms were removed from circulation following a 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.
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The police said, Lieutenant General Michael Mohlala, the Divisional Commissioner responsible for Visible Policing and Operations, oversaw the process of destroying the firearms.
Ballistic testing was performed on all destroyed firearms to ascertain if they were used in the commission of any crime. All firearms have been cleared, according to the SAPS.
The South African Police said it will continue to step up its efforts to detect and remove illicit firearms and ammunition from South African streets, as they constitute a threat to the country’s residents’ safety and security.
The organization also took the opportunity to thank members of the public for helping to make South Africa a safer place to live. The Service is convinced that destroying these firearms will ensure their removal from circulation for good.
