PICS:Knives more popular than guns - Cele
9 February 2010, 06:48
By Nompumelelo Magwaza
Knives have overtaken guns as the favoured weapon of criminals since police stepped up operations to recover stolen and illegal firearms.
This was according to National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele, who officiated at the destruction of more than 10 000 firearms in Prospecton, Durban, yesterday.
The firearms, which had been recovered from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, had been destroyed as part of the Awulethe Umshini wakho (bring your machine gun) amnesty campaign, which runs until April 11. Thousands of firearms and rounds of ammunition have been handed to the police.
Cele said the use of knives in crimes had increased as police took firearms out of circulation.
"Okapis (a brand of knife) are now more popular than firearms because we have squeezed the space for the use of firearms."
Also on hand to watch the firearms being destroyed was Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa.
"The amnesty provides for a procedure whereby a firearm, be it legal or illegal, may be surrendered at any police station without fear of being prosecuted," said Mthethwa.
He said a large number of illegal firearms were in circulation in the country and were a major contributor to the high rate of serious and violent crimes.
"It is compulsory for people with illegal firearms to hand them in. If they are not voluntarily handed in, we will seize them. We also appeal to communities to blow the horn and encourage people to hand in their firearms."
Mthethwa said there were at least two million illegal firearms in the hands of criminals.
"We need to close down sources where these firearms are coming from, and that is why we need to increase security at our borders. The only people who need to have firearms are the law enforcers."
Cele said there were "problematic" areas in KZN where police had recovered large numbers of firearms. These included Msinga, Greytown, Ladysmith and Nongoma. Police had recovered more than 200 illegal firearms in the Greytown area and more than 200 in the Ladysmith area since June.
"The other areas giving us problems with illegal firearms are the hostels in KwaMashu and Umlazi."
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on February 09, 2010
Cape Town
