While the police have failed to make progress in the recovery of more than 1.2-million rounds of ammunition looted during the July 2021 unrest in Durban, they have arrested two of their own for buying some of the stolen loot.
In a recent parliamentary response, police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola confirmed that only 47,352 rounds of the 1,202,000 units had been recovered.
The figure remained unchanged from a year ago when he answered the same question. However, he did reveal that two South African Police Service (SAPS) members were arrested for buying ammunition from the stolen cache, and the ammunition came from Brazil.
47,352 — the number of rounds of ammunition recovered from 1 202 000 stolen
2 — A sergeant and student constable arrested for buying stolen ammo
16 — the number of cases relating to the theft
— BALCONY INFO
Masemola said the cargo was not under SAPS protection at the time of the looting.
“The cargo came from Brazil, destined for a company in Centurion, Gauteng province. The cargo was transported from the Singapore Port and it arrived in Durban Harbour, where it was supposed to be delivered to the South African Revenue Service Customs Licensed Container depot for inspection by the SAPS Firearm Liquor and Second Hand Goods Control officials.
“The driver parked the truck with the cargo unguarded at his work premises. During the unrest, the cargo was reportedly looted,” he said.
In June 2022, a criminal case was registered against two SAPS members — a sergeant and a student constable — who purchased the stolen ammunition then reported the matter to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI).
“A thorough investigation was conducted by the DPCI that led to the arrest of the same members for buying stolen ammunition without following the procedure in terms of Section 252A of the Criminal Procedure Act 1977, (Act No. 51 of 1977),” said Masemola.
The student constable was dismissed from the Police Academy in January last year.
“Departmental steps were taken against the sergeant. However, in November 2023, he was fatally wounded while on duty, attending to an armed robbery incident in Durban. The criminal matter against both accused was withdrawn in court due to the death of the sergeant and the relocation of a witness to India,” said Masemola.
He said there were 16 cases relating to the theft. One accused was found guilty and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, of which three years were suspended for five years.
Eight cases involving 10 people were withdrawn while the director of public prosecutions declined to prosecute in two cases.
Five cases involving four suspects were ongoing in court.
In response to Masemola's parliamentary reply a year ago, experts told the Sunday Times there was little doubt the stolen ammunition had flooded the black market and was likely to be used by “a variety of criminals”.
“While the majority may have serviced the KwaZulu-Natal illicit market, it is also possible that some of this ammunition could have flowed into other provinces. Ammunition is a relatively easily transportable commodity,” said Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) senior analyst Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane.
She said the bulk of the stolen ammunition, more than 800,000 rounds, was 9mm rounds, the most popular for various brands of handguns in South Africa.
Irish-Qhobosheane said the calibres of ammunition in the stolen cache are mostly used in gangland fights, robberies and assassinations.
“The theft also takes place in a province beset by criminal violence and targeted assassinations. GI-TOC analysis of assassination trends has found that between 2015 and 2020, 38% of all recorded assassinations in South Africa were in KwaZulu-Natal — the highest proportion of all provinces.
“KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest number of hits across all different categories isolated by the GI-TOC’s analysis, including assassinations linked to the taxi industry, in personal feuds, organised crime and political assassinations. The rate of political assassinations in KwaZulu-Natal between 2015 and 2020 was almost five times that of the next highest-scoring province, Gauteng,” she said.
Gun Free South Africa researcher Claire Taylor said illegal ammunition, a single-use item, requires consistent resupply.
“Unlike firearms, which are uniquely marked at the point of manufacture, batches of ammunition rounds, which are manufactured in production runs that number thousands to millions of units, are marked with the same lot number, meaning that no single item is uniquely marked. This puts ammunition at particular risk of being anonymous and easy to divert as it cannot be traced back to source.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.