KZN mayor's bodyguards arrested on illegal weapons charges

Three KwaZulu-Natal bodyguards have been arrested for illegal possession of firearms.

In a statement‚ the Hawks confirmed that the men had been taken into custody.

The three are bodyguards for Mandeni Local Municipality Mayor Siphesihle Basil Zulu.

The Hawks' statement confirmed that the three were from the same company - which has still not been named - as the two men who brandished weapons‚ including an AK-47 replica‚ in a viral video. 

Those two were assigned to the security detail of ANC eThekwini regional secretary Bheki Ntuli.

Four pistols‚ one rifle and live rounds of ammunition were seized in the arrest of the three men. The seized firearms will be sent for ballistic testing to ascertain if they were linked to other crimes.

"People must understand that guns have caused many heartache in many families and brandishing of guns cannot be tolerated‚ I sincerely hope that people will desist showing off their guns and endangering society‚" said Police Minister Fikile Mbalula.

"I have engaged with PSIRA [Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority] who are the custodian of security companies in our country‚ surely we can't have security companies who have employees who are the law onto themselves. I need answers from PSIRA on what action they will take against this security company."