By: Natasha Archary

National Police Spokesperson, Athlenda Mathe has confirmed that 15 000 firearms have been destroyed by the South African Police Services (SAPS), on Thursday, 06 July.
Mathe said some of the weapons were either confiscated during operations or voluntarily surrendered to the state.
Since April 2022, SAPS have destroyed 54 517 firearms by its firearms destruction process.
SAPS destroyed the weapons at a facility in Vanderbiljpark, with National Police Commissioner, Fannie Masemola saying police are making headway in curbing crimes committed by illegal firearms.
“This measure has been put in place to ensure that recovered and confiscated firearms do not end up in the wrong hands.”
All firearms that were destroyed today had been subjected to ballistic testing to determine if they had been used to commission any crimes.
SAPS confirms that all 15 000 firearms have been cleared.
The process to destroy more than 15 000 firearms is currently underway. These are firearms that were either confiscated during operations or voluntarily surrendered to the state. Since April 2022, 54 517 firearms were destroyed during the firearms destruction process. pic.twitter.com/z2dIZdLOPb
— Athlenda Mathe (@AthlendaM) July 6, 2023
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