Gun stolen from cop during DRC protest recovered at ‘routine roadblock’

The handgun taken from a member of the Diplomatic Policing Unit during a protest outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) embassy in Pretoria on Tuesday has been recovered‚ the SA Police Service said on Wednesday.

The “unauthorised protest” which turned violent and led to the arrest of nine people was “roundly condemned by acting national commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Sally de Beer said the protest on Francis Baard Street “turned violent when stones were thrown at the embassy building and at members of the South African Police Service”.

“A member of the Diplomatic Policing Unit was disarmed by protestors during this incident and his firearm was stolen‚” she said.

The weapon‚ De Beer said‚ was recovered during a “a routine roadblock in Yeoville” and officers‚ “on testing it‚ discovered that it had been stolen earlier from a police officer at the DRC Embassy”.

The man who had it in his possession was taken into custody.

• Stun grenades rattle Cape Town CBD as police crack down on Kabila protestThe sound of explosions and sirens rattled office workers in Cape Town’s CBD as police dispersed foreign nationals protesting against DRC president Joseph Kabila on Monday. 

Phahlane accused the protesters of trying to “gain access to the embassy with the apparent intention of setting it alight”.

“The crowd was violent‚ caused damage to property‚ attempted to besiege an embassy under our protection and overpowered a police official‚ robbing him of a police firearm during the chaos. This can never be condoned and the SAPS roundly condemns such conduct‚" he added.

“As the SAPS‚ we have always respected the right to peaceful protest; but such protest must be approved by authorities beforehand and the organisers must acknowledge that responsibilities accompany rights.”

Tuesday’s protest was one of many around the country and the world calling for DRC president Joseph Kabila to step down after his term of office expired on Monday.

Also on Tuesday‚ a South African soldier killed in a rebel attack in the eastern DRCongo this week was named as 27-year-old Rifleman Moalosi Albert Mokhothu.

The SA National Defence Force said on Monday that a gunfight broke out when members of the Mayi Mayi and Allied Democratic Forces groups attacked the SANDF position near Butembu around 6.30am.

“The SANDF members‚ as part of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Congo‚ engaged in a fire fight with the attackers and repelled the attack‚” said spokesman Brigadier-General Xolani Mabanga.

“After a lengthy stand-off the attackers fled and during consolidation of the scene it was established that four Mayi Mayi rebels were killed and two captured.”

– TMG Digital