Durban - Nearly six months after 17 firearms and drugs were stolen from a police car parked overnight at the Durban beachfront, disciplinary action is finally expected against the officer responsible for the safekeeping of the exhibits.
The detective had been sent from Ladysmith in late January to bring the exhibits to Durban for ballistic testing.
The Daily News reported that on arrival in Durban, the detective went to his beachfront hotel and locked the exhibits, including his service pistol, in his parked car overnight. The next day he reported at the Durban Central police station that his car had been broken into, and the exhibits stolen.
At the time, police spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, would not confirm the number of firearms or quantity of drugs stolen.
Zwane had said the case was sub judice and that divulging the number of stolen firearms would make the police targets for criminals. In a reply to e-mailed questions seeking clarity on Wednesday on what type of crimes the firearms were linked to, and what would happen to the crimes under investigation or to people charged in connection with the crimes committed with these firearms, Zwane said only four firearms had been stolen during the incident.
“Three of the firearms were exhibits and the fourth was the officer’s service pistol and no drugs were taken. The member faces a disciplinary hearing on the matter, which is set to commence later this month. The theft case is still under investigation,” he said.
He said the owners of the three firearms were charged with possession of unlicensed firearms, but the charges had since been withdrawn because the guns were stolen.
Lack of accountability in the police service was to blame for the rampant lawlessness by police officers, the DA’s spokeswoman on police, Dianne Kohler Barnard, said.
“It could be that the weapons related to murders or armed robberies and because of this carelessness the perpetrators will go free. It seems that police officers do not feel they can be held to account by the very people who pay their salaries,” she said.
KZN violence monitor, Mary de Haas, called for a “major shake-up” at police management level.
“To achieve this, policing should be depoliticised and professional and career officers with experience be appointed to management positions,” De Haas said.
The police watchdog, Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is not involved in the matter. Ipid communications manager, Grace Langa, said this was a case of negligence and should be investigated by the police.
“The officer failed to follow procedure to safeguard the firearms. We would only intervene if there was a strong indication that the officer was involved in the theft and sold the weapons,” she said.
Daily News