Inanda Police Investigate Lost Firearm Case Involving Durban North Officer

The SAPS Inanda branch is currently investigating a case of negligent loss of a firearm involving a police officer from Durban North, who reportedly lost his service pistol and failed to report the incident.

The firearm was recovered during a police raid in the area last Thursday, raising serious concerns about accountability and the potential for the criminal misuse of police-issued weapons. Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed that the lost firearm was an official state pistol.

“The officer had not reported the firearm lost or stolen, and he has been charged accordingly. Investigations are ongoing, and internal disciplinary processes will also be instituted,” Netshiunda stated, emphasising the gravity of the situation. It has emerged that the same officer had misplaced his gun but chose not to report it.

The security implications of such negligence are significant, particularly in a country grappling with high crime rates. Security expert Willem Els from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) shared his views on such occurrences, stating: “When there is a misplacement of a firearm, there are proper channels that must be followed, such as reporting it, and an inquest must be conducted.”

He further noted a troubling trend where police firearms are illegally rented out to criminals, although he refrained from speculating on this specific case without further information.

The issue of misplaced or lost firearms by police officers has garnered escalating concern. During a session in Parliament late last year, the suspended police minister, Senzo Mchunu, revealed statistics that showed KwaZulu-Natal ranked as the second highest province for mislaid firearms, with a total of 74 after Gauteng’s 121. Out of 371 missing firearms, 349 were reported stolen, while 22 were lost.

The statistics also showed that 191 police officers had been robbed of their service pistols. Service pistols predominated the cases of lost or stolen firearms, with 350 occurrences, alongside various other missing weapons such as assault rifles and shotguns.

Rise Mzansi member Makashule Gana reported the recovery of 120 identifiable SAPS firearms during a specified timeframe, with 123 arrests made across 331 cases in the second semester of the 2023/24 financial year, indicating that law enforcement is making strides in addressing illegal weapon circulation.

Earlier this month, during a parliamentary session, police acting Minister Firoz Cachalia disclosed that they had confiscated 21,702 illegal firearms over five years, with 6,853 of the weapons in question being involved in murder cases, which paints a grim picture of unchecked gun proliferation.

DAILY NEWS