The Office of the Provincial Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile announced on Monday evening, 1 September, that police have discovered a massive arms cache during an intelligence-driven operation in Mitchells Plain.
Officers, focusing on identified gang hotspots on the Cape Flats, conducted a cordon and search operation on Monday afternoon, and it yielded much-needed success.
It comes as a wave of gang violence has gripped the area, with the latest shooting involving six people in Beacon Valley on Sunday. One person was killed in that shooting, while two women were shot dead in Eastridge on Saturday evening.
While searching a house in Lentegeur, officers discovered:
- 19 firearms
- 1500 rounds of ammunition
- 3 gun safes
- 26 magazines
- A stun grenade and silencer
- A shooting practice target board
Patekile says all these illegal firearms and ammunition were concealed in cooler boxes and in safes in the specified property.
While no arrests have been made yet, detectives are questioning several people.
Patekile says the find is believed to be part of an orchestrated plan to perpetuate gang violence that is currently afflicting several communities in Cape Town.
The firearms will be sent for ballistic testing as part of the ongoing investigation, while the targeted operations are set to continue until the affected areas have been stabilised.
Patekile has hailed the success as a step in the right direction, and it comes on the back of his announcement that police have seized over 880 illegal firearms since April.
“Any firearm off the streets of Cape Town means a lot because firearms are the weapon of choice in murder and attempted murder cases recorded in gang violence shooting incidents.”
