Police Minister Bheki Cele says more than 5,000 firearms have been stolen from police in the last five years.
He said police have been able to arrest several people who were found in possession of the stolen guns. So far, 23 people have been found guilty and 42 are on trial.
A total of 48 firearms stolen from SAPS have been used to commit crimes.
Cele, who was replying to a written parliamentary question from EFF MP Vuyani Pambo, said that during the 2018/19 financial year, 1 205 guns were stolen from security services.
In the following financial year, 980 firearms were stolen. In the 2020/21 period, 735 guns were stolen by criminals. The number of incidents started to rise again when 971 firearms were stolen during the 2021/22 financial year.
Cele said the number shot up to 1 242 during the 2022/23 financial period. He also said the Hawks are investigating cases of firearms being sold by members of the SAPS, which ended up in the hands of criminals.
Two officers were convicted for selling 2 000 firearms to gangs on the Cape Flats a few years ago.
Former police officer Christiaan Prinsloo was sentenced to 18 years for selling firearms, some of which were later used in murders, including the killing of children. He was released on parole in 2020.
Another former police officer, David Charles Naidoo, was also convicted for illegal sale of guns.
Gun Free South Africa said in May that it was launching a class action against the police on behalf of the affected families for injuries and deaths due to the actions of Prinsloo and Naidoo.
In his parliamentary question to Cele, Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald asked what measures the police were taking to trace the stolen firearms, as hundreds of them had never been recovered.
Cele said the Hawks were working to recover every stolen firearm.
“The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations registered Project Impi in 2015 with the sole purpose of seizing firearms that were stolen and sold by any member of the SAPS.
“All the firearms that were recovered were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for a ballistics test. These firearms were then transported to a storage facility for safekeeping, pending destruction,” said Cele.
Cape Times