More than 1000 illegal guns have been recovered by police in the Western Cape in the last eight months MEC for Community Safety, Albert Fritz, revealed on Thursday.
“SAPS [SA Police Service] revealed that between November and July 2019, 1037 illegal firearms where recovered in the Western Cape," said Fritz in a statement.
"The number of recovered illegal firearms has decreased slightly from 1047 between November and October 2018. I call on Police Minister Bheki Cele to urgently ensure the destruction of these illegal firearms to guarantee that they are not leaked back into the illegal pool of weapons in the province.”
Fritz said it was is important to note that the majority of guns are legally manufactured and that all illegal guns were once legal before being diverted to the illegal arsenal of weapons in South Africa.
"Illegal weapons are brought into our province through smuggling, fraud and poor enforcement of the Firearms Control Act, and loss and theft of firearms from civilians and state institutions,” said the MEC.
Fritz said at the same time, residents were being urged to continue making use of the Illegal Firearms Hotline, which can be contacted on 078 330 9333.
He said there is a reward of R10000 to any individual who provides accurate information on the illegal distribution of firearms.