One brave Capetonian will soon receive R10 000 for piemping skollies to authorities and helping cops recover a firearm.
Community Safety MEC Alan Winde says the department is preparing to hand over the money to the person who helped them recover a gun as part of the ‘cash for guns’ project launched last year.
In November Winde called on residents to piemp skollies and said his department had set aside a whopping R700 000 for the pilot project, where residents can call a dedicated number to report illegal guns.
He says since then the department has received 155 cases of which 89, after being processed and the information verified, have been handed over to police.
“We are going to award our first R10 000 as part of our illegal firearm confiscation programme,” Winde said on Tuesday.
“We are hoping to issue further awards and I want to urge residents to continue to report illegal firearms.”
He told the Daily Voice that due to safety reasons he would not reveal the details of the first successful confiscation, but says he wants to physically see these guns being crushed so they can never be used for crime again.
Winde says the department has committed to keeping the details of whistelblowers confidential; to protect them from being targeted by gangs.
According to the department’s statistics the most cases were reported in Mitchells Plain with 14 cases, followed by 10 in Bishop Lavis and nine in Elsies River.
Other precincts listed in Winde’s presentation include Athlone, Delft, Bellville South, Kensington and Langebaan.
To report illegal firearms call or SMS 078 330 9333.