WES-KAAP. – Nie-dodelike onlustebeheer-ammunisie en ‘n gashouerlanseerder is Maandag by Faure-polisiestasie in Eersterivier se SAP 13-bewysstukstoor gesteel.
Kol. Andrè Traut sê daar is omstreeks 11:30 ontdek daar is by die stoorkamer ingebreek en die items is gesteel. Kleinvlei-speurders ondersoek die huisbraak-en-diefstalsaak. Geen inhegtenisnemings is gemaak nie.
Thomas Walters, die DA se woordvoerder vir gemeenskapsveiligheid en polisie-oorsig in die provinsie, sê die party is bekommerd oor die diefstal van ‘n gashouerlanseerder, verskeie rondtes nie-dodelike onlustebeheer-ammunisie en verskeie skokgranate. Walters sê sekuriteit by polisie-fasiliteite is ‘n groeiende krisis.
“Dit kan nie bloot as ‘n voorval van diefstal gesien word nie. Ongelukkig verteenwoordig dit ‘n patroon van vermoedelik veilig gestoorde wapens wat hul pad vanuit SAPD-fasiliteite tot op straat vind.”
Walters verwys dan ook na vorige voorvalle waar 15 vuurwapens in Januarie uit die bewysstukstoor by Mitchells Plain gesteel is.
“Dieselfde maand het parlementêre vrae van die DA aan die lig gebring dat 1 725 amptelik uitgereikte SAPD-vuurwapens tussen April 2021 en Julie 2023 gesteel is – gemiddeld 61 elke maand.”
Walters spreek sy ontevredenheid uit en sê slegs een onwettige vuurwapen in die hande van ‘n bendelid kan tot 12 lewens kos.
“Dit is absoluut ondenkbaar dat die einste organisasie wat met openbare veiligheid belas is, ‘n hand gehad het om gewelddadige misdadigers direk te bewapen. Hierdie mees onlangse voorval beklemtoon die gevaarlike gebrek aan sekuriteit by baie SAPD-fasiliteite, en moet as ‘n dringende wekroep beskou word. Pogings om geweld binne ons gemeenskappe hok te slaan, kan nooit suksesvol wees as ons eie nasionale polisiediens ‘n prominente bron van onwettige vuurwapens bly nie. Die DA vra vir ‘n volledige en dringende ondersoek na hierdie week se diefstal by die Faure-basis, en sal parlementêre vrae oor die aangeleentheid aan die Wes-Kaapse bestuur van die SAPD rig,” sê Walters.
Lees die volledige verklaring hier onder:
The DA in the Western Cape is deeply troubled by reports of stolen ammunition and weaponry from the Faure Base in Eerste Rivier on Monday.
This theft, which saw items such as a gas launcher, multiple rounds of less-lethal ammunition and several stun grenades go missing, highlights a growing crisis of security within SAPS facilities and cannot simply be seen as an incident of theft.
Sadly, it represents a pattern of supposedly-securely stored weapons finding their way out of SAPS facilities and onto the street.
In January, 15 firearms were stolen from the SAP-13 evidence storage locker within Mitchells Plain SAPS.
That same month, DA parliamentary questions revealed that 1 725 officially-issued SAPS firearms have been stolen between April 2021 and July 2023 – an average of 61 every month.
What is simply unacceptable is the fact that one illegal firearm in the hands of a gang member may claim up to 12 lives on average – a scale of destruction of and within communities that can never ever be accepted as normal.
Incidents such as these demonstrate in clear terms the need to rethink policing in the Western Cape.
The Western Cape Government’s LEAP Officers, in collaboration with the SAPS, have confiscated hundreds of illegal firearms and made thousands of arrests in a landmark effort to reduce violence in some of the Western Cape’s most crime-afflicted communities.
But no amount of policing can be successful without a revamp of SAPS’s dangerously outmoded and overly-centralised approach to policing.
While the Western Cape Government remains committed to working with all partners, including SAPS, to make our communities safer, the DA maintains its firm belief that the devolution of policing to capable sub-national governments remains the single most-impactful measure to curb violence. In addition to allowing wider implementation of the Western Cape’s proven methods of tech-enabled and data-led policing, this step would allow the long-awaited implementation of a provincial site for the destruction of illegal firearms.
DA Western Cape spokesperson on Community Safety Thomas Walters says: “It is absolutely unthinkable that the very organisation charged with public safety has had a hand in directly arming violent criminals. This most-recent incident highlights the dangerous lack of security at many SAPS facilities, and must be taken as an urgent wake-up call. Efforts to curb violence within our communities can never be successful when our own national police service remains a prominent source of unlawful firearms. The DA calls for a full and urgent investigation into this week’s theft at the Faure Base, and will address parliamentary questions on the matter to the Western Cape management of the SAPS.”
Crime Watch – Yusuf Abramjee het die volgende inligting gedeel:
Faure Base in Eerste River, Cape Town:
There was a break-in at the @SAPoliceService facility earlier this week.
The following was stolen:
1x 40mm MM- Launcher with serial nr: S108215.
8 x Stun Grenades
2x Smoke Grenades
2 x Boxes of Rubber rounds @ 25 rounds per box. [50 x rubber rounds]
2 x Ammo belts 12x bore @ 20 x rounds per belt. [40 x rubber rounds]
