More than 130 police stations have been targeted by weapons thieves in Gauteng alone in the past five years, with 9 robbed just last year.
A sign to the entrance to the Olievenhoutbosch Police station, 8 June 2021, Centurion. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Rural and under-resourced police stations have increasingly come under attack by daring criminals looking for guns and ammunition in consistent raids. In the most recent incident, three men held up the Tsineng police station in Northern Cape and stole 15 firearms, including R5 rifles and shotguns, at the weekend.
Police minister Bheki Cele has, however, dismissed these reports as fake news, saying a top level intervention was being mapped out to deal with attacks on police stations, but this was not for public consumption as yet.Criminologist at the University of Stellenbosch’s Department of political sciences, Dr Guy Lamb, said the vulnerability of rural police stations would be enticing for any group looking for powerful weapons, whatever their reasons may be.
“It means it is a possibility for any group who want to stage some form of insurrections. There is a vulnerability in terms of police stations and those firearms are vulnerable,” he added. Mamabolo lamented that 25% of the country’s 127 000 police officers were office-based, with the rest expected to protect a population of more than 60-million, beset by socio-economic challenges.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Popcru concerned about police station security after latest robberyOver the weekend, rifles, pistols and ammunition were stolen at the Tsineng Police Station when three men broke in.
Read more »
R5 rifles, shotguns and ammunition taken in police station robberyThree men escaped with R5 rifles, shotguns and ammunition after robbing a police station at the weekend.
Read more »
R5 rifles, shotguns and ammunition taken in police station robberyThree men escaped with R5 rifles, shotguns and ammunition after robbing a police station in the Northern Cape at the weekend.
Read more »
Suspects rob police station of firearms and ammunitionA police officer was held at gunpoint.
Read more »
Joburg DA to approach Gauteng govt to force council sitting to elect new mayorDemocratic Alliance caucus leader Leah Knott has told Eyewitness News that while the party had been sympathetic following Johannesburg mayor Geoff Makhubo’s death due to COVID-19 complications last month, it was simply taking too long to select a mayoral candidate.
Read more »