Firearms advocacy group Gun Free South Africa urges collaboration between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and local communities to tackle the proliferation of illegal weapons on the streets. Citing a staggering 18 deaths in Cape Town townships in June alone, the group highlights the urgent need to clear the estimated 500,000 illegal firearms.Firearms advocacy group Gun Free South Africa urges collaboration between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and local communities to tackle the proliferation of illegal weapons on the streets. Citing a staggering 18 deaths in Cape Town townships in June alone, the group highlights the urgent need to clear the estimated 500,000 illegal firearms. Gun Free South Africa director Adele Kirsten emphasizes the role of SAPS in recovering, detecting, tracing, and destroying illegal weapons. She stresses that the agency possesses the necessary skills and resources to combat the issue. By identifying the sources of these firearms, authorities can effectively disrupt the flow of illegal weapons into communities. The group calls for increased community involvement in the fight against illegal firearms. Residents are encouraged to report suspicious activities and provide information that could assist in apprehending individuals involved in the illicit firearm trade. Gun Free South Africa believes that a collective effort between law enforcement and the public can significantly reduce the number of illegal weapons circulating and enhance public safety.
CAPE TOWN – Firearms advocacy group Gun Free South Africa is calling on the South African Police Service (SAPS) and local communities to work together to clear the nearly 500,000 illegal weapons circulating on the streets.
The call comes after 18 deaths were recorded in Cape Town townships in June alone.
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Many people have been killed by firearms in Langa, Khayelitsha, Delft, Nyanga and Gugulethu.
“Taking guns out of circulation should be the priority of SAPS. They are the only agency that can really do this,” said Gun Free South Africa director Adele Kirsten.
“They have the skills and the resources to recover these weapons, to detect and trace them so that we can determine the source of these weapons, and then destroy them.”
