By Nompumelelo Magwaza
More than 10 000 firearms were destroyed by police top brass led by the minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa, in Prospecton, Durban, on Monday.
The destruction of the firearms is part of the national amnesty campaign Awalethe umushini wakho, which means "bring your machine gun".
"The amnesty provides for a procedure whereby a firearm, be it legal or illegal, may be surrendered at any local police station without fear of being prosecuted," said Mthethwa on .
He said there was a large pool of illegal firearms in circulation around the country and these weapons were a major contributor to the high rate of serious and violent crime.
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"It is compulsory for people with illegal firearms to hand them in. If not, then we will seize them. We also appeal to communities to blow the horn and encourage people to hand in their firearms."
Mthethwa said at least 3 046 firearms had been handed in to the police so far. However, there were still at least 2 million illegal firearms in the hands of criminals.
The amnesty runs until April.
This breaking news flash was supplied exclusively to iol.co.za by the news desk at our sister title The Mercury. For more about this story, carry on watching iol.co.za or click here to subscribe to the digital or print edition of the newspaper.
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