Thirteen police issue firearms have been stolen from the Ngangelizwe police station in Mthatha and are now in the hands of potential armed robbers.
Ten 9mm pistols and three assault rifles were discovered missing on Thursday by a provincial police task team.
The task team was formed by the police provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga to do an audit of state resources at the notorious police station. The theft comes three weeks after five impounded vehicles were torched inside the same police station.
Eastern Cape provincial police spokeswoman Brigadier Marinda Mills said the firearms were last inspected by the Mthatha cluster office on June 22 and that no shortages were reported.
“However, when the provincial task team completed their inspection, 13 firearms were found to be unaccounted for.”
Mills said: “A criminal case of theft was opened for investigation and at the same time, an internal investigation in terms of SAPS disciplinary regulations commenced. Once this is completed, the matter of disciplinary steps will be considered which includes suspension.”
This is not the first theft of police firearms in the province. On March 14, 30 firearms, including 12 assault rifles, 12 hand guns and six short guns, were stolen from Peddie police station. They have not been found and a senior official was suspended by the SAPS head office in Pretoria.
Senior officials at Ngangelizwe police station now face similar action.
Prison and Police Civil Rights Union (Popcru) in the province has written to Ntshinga demanding an explanation and her plans to stop the thefts or step down. This comes ahead of the union’s big meeting with Police Minister Fikile Mbalula over what they termed “a leadership crisis” in the Eastern Cape police.
Popcru’s Eastern Cape secretary Zamikhaya Skade said: “As the union, we are concerned by these recurring problems and the minister is aware of the problem, hence he has called us for a meeting after we raised all the challenges with him.”
In the letter to Ntshinga, Skade wrote: “The issue of missing firearms is not the first incident in the province as it has also happened at Peddie police station recently. We would like to know what steps were taken to address the matter and what management interventions were put in place to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents in the province.”
Skade said to the Dispatch: “If Ntshinga fails to produce a clear plan which shows their intentions to prevent this crisis, she must step down.”
Mills said the incident would not go without consequences. “Matters of this nature receive priority attention in the office of the provincial commissioner.”
Mills said the provincial task team, formed last year, conducts unannounced inspections at all 196 stations “with the sole purpose to establish whether all state firearms are accounted for and to ensure 100% compliance with instructions relating to firearms.” — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
13 firearms stolen from Mthatha cop station
Ten 9mm pistols and three assault rifles were discovered missing on Thursday by a provincial police task team.
The task team was formed by the police provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga to do an audit of state resources at the notorious police station. The theft comes three weeks after five impounded vehicles were torched inside the same police station.
Eastern Cape provincial police spokeswoman Brigadier Marinda Mills said the firearms were last inspected by the Mthatha cluster office on June 22 and that no shortages were reported.
“However, when the provincial task team completed their inspection, 13 firearms were found to be unaccounted for.”
Mills said: “A criminal case of theft was opened for investigation and at the same time, an internal investigation in terms of SAPS disciplinary regulations commenced. Once this is completed, the matter of disciplinary steps will be considered which includes suspension.”
This is not the first theft of police firearms in the province. On March 14, 30 firearms, including 12 assault rifles, 12 hand guns and six short guns, were stolen from Peddie police station. They have not been found and a senior official was suspended by the SAPS head office in Pretoria.
Senior officials at Ngangelizwe police station now face similar action.
Prison and Police Civil Rights Union (Popcru) in the province has written to Ntshinga demanding an explanation and her plans to stop the thefts or step down. This comes ahead of the union’s big meeting with Police Minister Fikile Mbalula over what they termed “a leadership crisis” in the Eastern Cape police.
Popcru’s Eastern Cape secretary Zamikhaya Skade said: “As the union, we are concerned by these recurring problems and the minister is aware of the problem, hence he has called us for a meeting after we raised all the challenges with him.”
In the letter to Ntshinga, Skade wrote: “The issue of missing firearms is not the first incident in the province as it has also happened at Peddie police station recently. We would like to know what steps were taken to address the matter and what management interventions were put in place to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents in the province.”
Skade said to the Dispatch: “If Ntshinga fails to produce a clear plan which shows their intentions to prevent this crisis, she must step down.”
Mills said the incident would not go without consequences. “Matters of this nature receive priority attention in the office of the provincial commissioner.”
Mills said the provincial task team, formed last year, conducts unannounced inspections at all 196 stations “with the sole purpose to establish whether all state firearms are accounted for and to ensure 100% compliance with instructions relating to firearms.” — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
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