Five years on, only 5% of 1.2 million rounds of ammunition looted during the July 2021 unrest have been recovered in Durban.
During the riots, approximately 1.2 million rounds of ammunition and 800,000 primers were stolen from a shipment in the Mobeni industrial area, in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal; however, only a tiny portion has been recovered.
Brigadier Thandi Mbambo, national spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as Hawks, said 46,552 rounds of ammunition have been recovered.
Mbambo further stated that the investigations are ongoing and no new recoveries of rounds of ammunition stolen from a shipment have been made since 2024.
In 2024, the police revealed that of the 16 suspects charged, eight cases involving 10 accused were withdrawn, and that five cases involving four suspects were still ongoing. In the other two, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) declined to prosecute.
Mbambo said the cases linked to the recoveries were in Chatsworth, Umbilo, and KwaMakhutha.
In Chatsworth, two accused, one of whom is a metro police officer, were charged with unlawful possession of ammunition and appeared in the Durban Magistrate's Court on April 30, 2026.
In Umbilo, the accused was sentenced to eight years in jail for the unlawful possession of 200 rounds of ammunition.
In KwaMakhutha, a charge for unlawful possession of ammunition was withdrawn.
Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, spokesperson for the NPA in KwaZulu-Natal, said two dockets opened at Wentworth and Montclair, emanating from the theft from the container, were forwarded to the Office of the DPP KZN, Organised Crime Component.
Ramkisson-Kara said the NPA guided the Wentworth investigation. Riyadh Adams and Jonathan Padayachee were summoned to appear in court on February 21, 2023, and the matter was set down for trial at the Regional Court “N” Durban Court from April 1-5, 2024.
Sergeant Adams was the investigating officer in the case of theft of rounds of ammunition, while Padayachee was a student constable.
“Riyadh Adams died on November 19, 2023. On April 2, 2024, the matter was in court, and there was only one accused, J Padayachee, as Mr Adams was deceased. The main witness in the matter was also not in court. A month before the trial date, the investigating officer informed the prosecutor that the witness had moved overseas,” she said.
Ramkisson-Kara said the prosecutor informed the investigating officer to contact the witness and request him to be on standby for his evidence to be taken virtually.
“Four days before the trial date, the investigating officer informed the prosecutor that the witness, who is overseas, could not be contacted. On April 2, 2024, the State applied for a postponement to allow the investigating officer to try again to contact the witness. The magistrate refused the postponement and advised the prosecutor to locate the witness and make the necessary arrangements for his evidence to be taken virtually and then reinstate the charges. The matter was then withdrawn,” Ramkisson-Kara stated.
She added that the docket was then returned to the investigating officer, with written instructions to trace and contact the witness and report to the prosecutor.
“The original investigating officer (Sergeant Riyadh Adams) has since passed on. We are now at a stage where there is no feedback from the police. The current investigating officer will be contacted to see if there has been any success in locating or contacting the witness. If the witness is traced, it will have to be determined if he is still willing to testify in the matter, and the State will then have to enquire from the defence whether such a witness can testify virtually,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
The criminal case against Adams and Padayachee was opened in June 2022, after they purchased the stolen ammunition without following the procedure under Section 252A of the Criminal Procedure Act, and then reported the matter to the DPCI.
Padayachee has since been dismissed from the police.
She stated that in the Montclair case, the SAPS could not identify the persons who broke into the premises, opened the container, and stole the ammunition.
“Based on available evidence in the docket, no person could be linked to the commission of the offence. No prosecution could be considered,” Ramkisson-Kara said.
Willem Els, a senior training coordinator in the ENACT organised crime programme, said a firearm without ammunition is worthless; as a result, the prices of rounds of ammunition are always increasing.
He added that high prices lead to scarcity, especially among organised crime syndicates.
He stated that criminal syndicates need firearms to commit crimes, especially in cash-in-transit heists; however, without rounds of ammunition, the firearms become worthless, hence a turn to the use of primers.
A primer is a component of a cartridge that contains a small, shock-sensitive explosive. When struck by a firearm’s firing pin, it detonates, creating a flash that ignites the main powder charge.
Els said it seems that a trend is developing in underground ammunition factories, which are reloading facilities, where a fired cartridge undergoes a specific process in which the old, used-up primer is punched out of the base. The brass case is resized to its original dimensions, and then a new, unused primer is pressed into the primer pocket. The new powder is added, and a new bullet is seated.
On November 26, 2024, the now-suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, in a parliamentary reply to Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane, said 47,325 rounds of ammunition were recovered, and 16 suspects were charged with possession of unlicensed ammunition.
However, according to DPCI records, only 46,552 rounds of ammunition have been recovered.
According to Mchunu’s parliamentary reply, the cargo from which 1,202,000 rounds of ammunition and 800,000 primers were stolen was from Brazil, destined for a company in Centurion, Gauteng.
“The cargo was transported from the Singapore Port and arrived at the Durban Harbour, where it was supposed to be delivered to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) Customs Licensed Container depot for inspection by the SAPS Firearm Liquor and Second Hand Goods Control (FLASH) officials. The driver parked the truck with the cargo unguarded at his work premises. During the unrest, the cargo was reportedly looted,” Mchunu told Parliament.