KWAZULU-NATAL’s reputation for gun-related criminality and as a haven for contract killers has crime experts concerned that a large portion of the ammunition looted from a Durban storage facility during the riots of July 2021 has not yet been recovered.
Police were only able to retrieve some of the more than 1.5 million rounds of ammunition - that mainly fitted handguns - that were stolen from a container depot in Mobeni at the time, according to a source familiar with the investigations.
But the experts said that was not good enough.
The ammunition fitted handguns, with the bulk being 9mm rounds.
“Why has there not been a proper recovery of the ammunition by police as yet? It could suggest that it might be corruption in the police service, which is concerning,” said Professor Alex van den Heever, who is Wits University’s chairperson of social security systems administration and management studies.
Van den Heever said that it could also have political links and was possibly part of illicit goings-on.
“The total silence on recovery is concerning. You would have expected it to have been a priority.
“It might have been targeted and someone had insider knowledge, given the nature of the insurrection,” he said.
Initially, there was speculation that the ammunition might be the property of the Defence Force but it was established that it was destined for a private Pretoria-based arms dealer before it was intercepted.
In a previous media report, Johan Coertze, an ammunition importer, claimed ownership of the stolen property, but did not elaborate on the quantity and other specifications.
Coertze added that the ammunition was meant to be sold to gun shops and dealerships.
No response was received to the Sunday Tribune’s questions this week.
During police stop-and-search operations various people were found with boxes of ammunition.
Individuals were arrested in the Durban area and in the northern parts of the province and were charged with being in possession of unlicensed ammunition.
An informant said that those who grabbed the loot at the time started to sell the ammunition to others. That was how it was spread far and wide.
Mary de Haas, KZN’s violence monitor, said there was a lot of ammunition flying around the province. One only had to look at the killings that were happening in the province.
“I’m not sure what’s happening with ballistic reports on these killings to check on the ammunition used. When I checked recently, there could be a delay with these reports,” De Haas said.
‘We have a crisis in policing, especially with crime intelligence and detective services, because they are over-stretched,“ she said.
Professor Nirmala Gopal, a criminologist with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said if after two years only a small portion was recovered, then the chances of future successes were bleak.
“Gun violence and violence generically have been so normalised in our country among some communities that they are probably apathetic towards this phenomenon,” Gopal said.
Hawks spokesperson Thandie Mbambo said: “The docket has been referred to Director of Public Prosecution for investigation.”
SUNDAY TRIBUNE