Forensic and crime expert, Calvin Rafadi, has linked South Africa faces a growing crisis of mass shootings, driven by the rise of illegal firearms.
The deadly trend of mass shootings in South Africa to the government’s failure to curb unlicensed and homemade firearms, among others.
This comes after yet another devastating mass shooting incident on Friday night which claimed the lives of five family members, leaving two minors injured at Bityi village, outside Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.
No arrests have been made yet, however, Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Nomthetheleni Mene, said resources have been deployed to find the perpetrators of these senseless murders.
Mene called on community members who might have information to come forward and assist the police.
Almost 30 people were killed in mass shooting incidents in that province within a month, making it the highest that has been seen recently.
The issue of illegal firearms has become a headache for the South African Police Service (SAPS) and citizens at large.
Gun Free South Africa reports that there are 4 500 000 licensed firearms in South Africa, 34 gun-related murders occur every day, and 9 855 firearms are reported lost or stolen annually.
In response to a question from Makashule Gana of Rise Mzansi in Parliament last month, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu disclosed that 371 weapons had been reported lost or stolen during the second semester of the 2023/2024 fiscal year.
Gauteng led the group with 121 losses during these six months, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 74 and the Eastern Cape with 55.
“A total of 120 identifiable SAPS firearms were recovered, during the second semester 2023/24 financial year. A total of 123 arrests were made on 331 case dockets, during the second semester 2023/24 financial year, and a total number of 29 128 ammunition rounds were recorded as lost/stolen during the second semester 2023/24,” said Mchunu.
In order to fully empower all South African police units, including the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), to root out all illegal guns through an extended search and seizure, without limiting stop and search operations, Rafadi has once again called on the government to declare a state of emergency in all of these crime hotspot areas.
He claimed that Oscar Mabuyane, the premier of the Eastern Cape, has also emphasised the need for this action, stating that SANDF soldiers must be sent in to assist with the ongoing conflict that is killing and terrorising local residents.
Rafadi attributes the violence to a combination of factors, including the influence of cults and radical unlicensed traditional leaders, who misleadingly promote murder as a means to spiritual power.
“We need to regulate our religions,” he said. “There are many churches that play a key role in the upbringing of a society,” said Rafadi.
He said this following the sentencing of four criminals who received life terms for the violent attack on the Ngcobo Police Station that resulted in the deaths of five officers. The National Prosecuting Authority and police investigations established the cult membership of the convicted perpetrators.
According to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), the SAPS needs to focus on firearm crime and violence to achieve public safety.
In an interview with “Newzroom Afrika“, IRS Forensic Investigations' Chad Thomas, an investigator specialising in organised crime, discussed the consequences of state firearms falling into the hands of criminals.
He claimed that because police carry guns, they are frequently targeted for theft and that many firearms are taken from SAPS officers while they are on or off duty.
“We see this playing out in other industries such as security where officers are being targeted for firearms. We have also seen during cash-in-transit (CIT) and other robberies firearms are being taken from the scene by criminals. This is a massive problem in South Africa in terms of the proliferation of arms used by criminal syndicates,” said Thomas.
The Star
ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za