The South African Police Service has seen over 300 firearms and close to 30,000 rounds of ammunition lost or stolen in just six months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding to a question from Rise Mzansi’s Makashule Gana, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said that 371 firearms were lost or stolen during the second semester of the 2023\/24 financial year (1 October 2023 to 31 March 2024). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gauteng was the worst performer by far, with 121 guns lost or stolen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
KwaZulu-Natal came in second place with 74 guns stolen or lost, while the Eastern Cape saw 55 guns leave its officers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Free State was the best performer, with ten stolen or misplaced guns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notably, far more guns (349) were stolen compared to the 22 weapons that were lost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mchunu said that 191 police officers were robbed of their service pistols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although 350 of the guns that were stolen or missing were pistols, 12 R5 rifles, five R1 rifles and four shotguns also left the police’s hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rise Mzansi said that the R1 and R5 rifles are, in many instances, used in the commission of cash-in-transit heists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On a more positive note, 120 identifiable SAPS firearms were recovered over the six-month period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the period, 122 arrests were made on 331 case dockets related to stolen or missing guns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Minister also said that 29,128 ammunition rounds were recorded as lost\/stolen during the second semester of 2023\/24. Over 18,000 of these lost rounds came from the SAPS’s head office divisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “The total number of rounds of ammunition that were recovered cannot be identified as either SAPS-owned or privately-owned because they do not have unique identification markings, such as serial numbers,” said the Minister <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rise Mzansi said that SAPS Commissioner General Fannie Masemola should table a detailed crisis plan before the Police Portfolio Committee on how the Service will:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Major challenges facing the police <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The loss of weapons adds to the growing list of problems facing the SAPS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate response to Gana, Mchunu said that the SAPS currently employs 22,413 detectives but that there are currently 8,594 vacancies for detectives nationwide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This lack of detectives severely limits the SAPS’s ability to fight crimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa has over 8,000 vacant detective positions, which is limiting the police\u2019s ability to solve crimes and becoming a serious problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate response to the Democratic Alliance, former Police Minister Bheki Cele said that 5.4 million case dockets were closed without results due to a lack of evidence of leads since the 2018\/19 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mchunu provided a more detailed breakdown of the total number of dockets for serious offences closed without result:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As South Africa recorded close to 115,00 murders over the five-year period, roughly two out of three murders since 2018\/19 in South Africa were not solved.<\/p>\n\n\n\nProvince<\/strong><\/td> Guns<\/strong> Stolen<\/strong><\/td> Guns<\/strong> Lost<\/strong><\/td> Guns<\/strong> Total<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Gauteng<\/td> 112<\/td> 9<\/td> 121<\/td><\/tr> KZN<\/td> 68<\/td> 6<\/td> 74<\/td><\/tr> Eastern Cape<\/td> 54<\/td> 1<\/td> 55<\/td><\/tr> Mpumalanga <\/td> 30<\/td> 0<\/td> 30<\/td><\/tr> Limpopo<\/td> 28<\/td> 1<\/td> 29<\/td><\/tr> Western Cape<\/td> 22<\/td> 0<\/td> 22<\/td><\/tr> North West<\/td> 17<\/td> 2<\/td> 19<\/td><\/tr> Northern Cape<\/td> 11<\/td> 0<\/td> 11<\/td><\/tr> Free State<\/td> 7<\/td> 3<\/td> 10<\/td><\/tr> Total<\/strong> <\/td> 349<\/strong><\/td> 22<\/strong><\/td> 371<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n \n
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