After a spate of shootings at entertainment venues in Khayelitsha over the weekend, police have vowed to focus their efforts on seizing illegal firearms.
Police spokesman, Siyabulela Malo, said; “Our determination to reduce the number of unlicensed firearms on our streets led to the arrest of a 24-year-old man in Khayelitsha on Monday May 27, by members attached to the Major Offences Reaction Team.
“The suspect, who resides in Mandela Park, Khayelitsha is expected to make a court appearance in Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on a charge of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition soon,” he said.
In an unrelated incident in the early hours of Monday morning, police were patrolling when they received information of a firearm that was in the wrong hands. Officers immediately responded and spotted the suspicious vehicle on the corner of Japhta Masemola and Oscar Mpetha roads in SST informal settlement, Khayelitsha.
When police stopped the vehicle, the driver tried to escape on foot and threw something onto the roof of a shack.
He was apprehended and taken back to where he had thrown the object. It was discovered that it was an unlicensed firearm loaded with ammunition.
Malo said in a similar incident officers acted on a tip-off about firearms and drugs being kept at a premises at Wellesley, in Factreton where they confiscated an unlicensed firearm with ammunition and illegal substances and arrested the suspect.
He added that in Khayelitsha SAPS arrested a 51-year-old in connection with the killing of a 39-year-old woman in Site C, Khayelitsha.
The incident occurred on Saturday May 25 at about 5pm when the two are believed to have become involved in an argument, after which the man allegedly shot the woman.
He was arrested and his unlicensed firearm was seized. He is expected to make a court appearance at Khayelitsha Magistrate Court soon on a charge of murder.
Meanwhile, Nyanga police said its efforts to ensure those who continue to break the law are brought to book, have yielded positive results when police arrested 10 suspects on Thursday May 23 for charges ranging from murder, attempted murder, houses robbery and assault to do grievous bodily harm.
Captain Ntomboxolo Sitshitshi said eight of those suspects were apprehended during a nine hour tracing operation conducted by the station’s serious and violent crimes unit for crimes committed during last month and this month.
She said on Wednesday two suspects aged 23 and 25 were arrested for their alleged involvement in the theft of cellphones from two people in Crossroads.
She said they are expected to appear in Athlone court and other is Philippi court soon.“The station management had applauded members for their efforts in arresting the suspects as well as the community members of Crossroads who showed their eagerness and dedication in the fight against crime,” she said