Cape Town - In a chilling admission, Deputy Minister of Police Bongani Mkongi, said guns that disappeared last week from the Bellville South and Mitchells Plain stations, were stolen by member of the SAPS and sold to gangsters.
“Those firearms that you (the media) have reported on. They did not just disappear. They were stolen by our own members. There are SAPS officers stealing guns and giving it to the gangs. It is an inside job. We know this is happening. How do you explain police officers going to parties of ganglords? Of course you are going to lose your firearms, because the guns are being stolen,” Mkongi told a media briefing in Parliament.
He said gang violence on the Cape Flats had spiralled out of control and that internal corruption within the police has aided the problem.
He announced a new gang strategy which includes the re-introduction of specialised gang units.
Mkongi requested a report from the station commanders of Bellville South and Mitchells Plain and is planning a visit to the two stations “in due course”.
He said 18 firearms, mostly assault rifles, were stolen from the arms storeroom at Bellville South and another 15 assault rifle at Mitchells Plain police stations.
Mgonki said Bellville South and Mitchells Plain and other areas on the Cape Flats had been turned into ganglands where innocent residents had little control over their safety.