Africa News Agency
A police reservist stationed at the Khayelitsha police station was one of three men arrested by Metro police after they were caught driving in a suspected hijacked vehicle.
City of Cape Town Mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith said members of the Metro Police’s Tactical Response Unit were en route to an operation in Gugulethu yesterday when they noticed a suspicious looking vehicle.
Three male suspects were travelling in the VW Polo Vivo on the N2, when the one sitting in the back began behaving nervously when he saw the officers.
Smith said the officers pulled the car over on the N2 between Duinefontein Road and Jakes Gerwel Drive. A Taurus pistol with the serial number filed off was recovered. Officers confirmed the vehicle had been hijacked during a house robbery in Delft on November 12. All three men were arrested. “The GP number plates on the vehicle are registered to a registered company and a CA registration number was reflected on the licence disc,” Smith said.
The men are set to face charges of possession of an unlicenced firearm and ammunition, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, using false number plates and armed robbery for the hijacking case.
He said they would most likely appear in court today.
Describing it as “disturbing”, he said authorities would never be able to stem gang violence if there was a steady flow of illegal firearms. The fact that a police reservist was allegedly involved “bodes very poorly for the vetting and screening process”.