The City of Cape Town’s enforcement departments have confiscated several firearms and a large amount of drugs this past week. In addition, they’ve arrested more than 100 people and issued 66 500 fines.
‘Officers confiscate illegal firearms on a near daily basis and each weapon that’s taken off the street is potentially a life saved. Guns and drugs chip away at the fabric of our communities. The City’s Safety and Security Directorate does all it can to ensure communities are safer, but we do need the co-operation of everyone involved and that includes other agencies and residents,’ said the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
On Sunday, 14 March 2021, a joint operation between the Metro Police Tactical Response Unit and Manenberg SAPS led to the recovery of a firearm where it was hidden in the gutter on the top floor of a block of flats in Manenberg. The officers followed up on information and found a 9mm Z88 pistol with its serial number filed off, and eight 9mm live rounds and two magazines, and it was booked in as abandoned.
Metro Police officers on patrol in Kleinvlei on Thursday searched a suspicious man and confiscated an imitation firearm he had hidden in the front of his shirt. The 26-year-old was arrested.
‘Officers deployed in terms of the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) continue to make inroads in the hotspot areas. This past week they responded to a shooting incident in Hanover Park and came across a man who had been shot in the hip. They waited for SAPS and while busy with visible policing and searches in the vicinity of the shooting they noticed a group walking across a field. One of the men resisted being searched and when an officer got him on the ground, an Astra 38 Calibre revolver was found in his possession.
LEAP officers confiscated another firearm after they had chase down a reckless driver who had refused to stop. The .38 special revolver, with five rounds in the chamber, was found under the driver’s seat. All three occupants were arrested and further investigation revealed the driver was in contravention of his bail conditions which prohibited him from being in Delft.
‘Illegal firearms play a big role in the violence in our communities. The weapons confiscated may seem like a drop in the ocean, but with each one taken off the street we reduce the risk of someone dying in a shooting,’ said Alderman Smith.
The City’s Traffic Service arrested 87 suspects, impounded 186 vehicles and 143 cell phones, and issued 66 220 fines. In a joint three-day transport enforcement operation held in Brackengate and Brackenfell, officers arrested 14 suspects, impounded 109 taxis and issued 4 891 fines for various other offences.
‘Of the total number of drivers arrested, 37 were driving under the influence of alcohol. Combined with the number of cell phones confiscated from drivers, it shows not only a disregard for the law, but also the number of people whose attention to the road is impaired. This is a dice with death and the odds are rarely in favour of those who gamble with their own lives and other road users,’ added Alderman Smith.
In other successes, Metro Police officers also issued 3 109 fines and confiscated the following:
- 15 Mandrax tablets
- 52 small bankies of tik
- two clear packets of tik
- 33 packets of tik
- 6 halves of Mandrax tablets
- 114 Unga units