Cutting gangs' gun line

PLAN: COPS TO CLAMP DOWN ON CROSS-BORDER FIREARMS SMUGGLING

- Masoka Dube

If South Africa wants to win the fight against gangsterism, the police must also deal with cross-border illegal firearms smuggling, according to experts.

They commended the police minister for announcing that a major focus in the fight against gangsterism is to intercept the firearms supply in gang-infested areas such as the Western Cape.

Police Minister Firoz Cachalia recently announced that one of the strategies to fight the rampant gangsterism that claims many lives in the Western Cape is to deal with gun smuggling and the spread of illegal firearms.

"Without access to firearms gangs will be seriously weakened.

"We need urgent interventions to remove firearms from gangsters and prevent further proliferation of these deadly weapons.

"Perhaps the firearms stocks held in the SA Police Service's (Saps) 13 stores in gang areas should be removed, secured safely elsewhere and subjected to priority ballistic testing.

"Rigorous and regular auditing must be done on all state entities and private security companies that hold firearm stocks.