Cape Town - Residents of a Cape Town suburb have been left shaken after more than 1 000 rounds of ammunition, assault rifles, pistols, silencers and right-wing paraphernalia were seized from an elderly man’s flat.
Police are preparing to question a 70-year-old man in connection with the cache.
Acting on a tip-off, police on Friday discovered the arms in a flat at the back of a house in Vryburger Avenue, Bothasig.
Along with the ammunition, weapons and Nazi and AWB paraphernalia, police also found firearms assembled from components of other guns and explosive propellants.
Photographs taken during the police raid indicate some of the ammunition could have been obtained from Denel, the South African state-owned defence and technology company.
Major General Jeremy Vearey, the deputy provincial commissioner of crime detection, said the occupant of the flat was not home at the time of the raid. He was a person of interest in the case and police were preparing to approach him about their find.
Neal de Wit, chairman of the Bothasig community police forum, said residents were rattled and were waiting to hear more. “There was shock, but at the same time we can’t comment unless we have all the facts.
“If it’s a terrorism situation, the community will be up in arms. But if this is a legal firearm owner, then that’s got to be respected.”
“On the premises there were over 1 000 rounds of ammunition. There was every possible calibre (firearm) from small to automatic,” Vearey said.
These included R1 and R5 assault rifles, 9mm pistols and other handguns. Vearey said explosive propellants were among the other items found.
A police statement said two silencers were also discovered.
“In addition they (the police officers) also seized military gear, training equipment, reloading equipment, Nazi flags and memorabilia,” the statement said.
Vearey said AWB items were also found. The person involved with the weapons appeared to have been adept at assembling firearms from components of other guns.
Vearey would not speculate on what the ammunition and weapons were meant for, saying this would become clearer at a later stage.
Some of the images police made public after the raid show creased camouflage clothing and camouflage peak caps, as well as pieces of red fabric with a black swastika in a white circle.
Other photographs taken inside the flat are of worn boxes with the name of the firearm manufacturing company Smith&Wesson.
Another box is labelled “Pretoria Metal Pressings PTY LTD” and others read “PMP” – a manufacturer of small- and medium-calibre ammunition and part of the name Denel.
Other boxes are inscribed “Samson”. A web search indicated Samson Arms is an online store that sold ammunition, firearms and “duty gear and equipment for law enforcement”.
* Ex-police colonel Christiaan Prinsloo, 55, was arrested in Vereeniging in July and appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court. He is accused of selling or providing guns to gangsters. He is accused of three murders and 12 attempted murders in gang hot spots because he allegedly supplied the guns used in killings.
* In August, Gauteng arms dealer Alan Raves, 50, was arrested in Vereeniging and charged in Bellville. Raves faces 34 charges relating to firearms and racketeering for allegedly selling firearms to gang members.
The State believes Prinsloo and Raves started working together in 2007 and has joined their cases.
* Alleged 28s gang kingpin Ralph Stanfield, was arrested in June last year and accused of illegally getting guns from police. Three police officers from the Central Firearm Registry in Pretoria – Priscilla Mangyani, Billy April and Mary Cartwright – were charged alongside Stanfield.
The trio are suspected of creating gun licence applications on the police’s computer system.
Weekend Argus
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