Cape Town: The Enforcement Department of the City of Cape Town had a busy weekend. The team confiscated a large number of weapons and ammunition, shutting down a suspected chop shop and recovering a hijacked City vehicle.
Reportedly, the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan officers recovered several weapons and ammunition in Crossroads on Sunday, April 05, 2026. At 10:30 p.m. the officers went on patrol in the vicinity of a house that was allegedly hijacked by gangsters, when they saw a man with a bag on his shoulders. As soon as he noticed the officers, he fled and dropped the bag.
The officers recovered the bag and discovered a number of firearms, magazines and ammunition which was taken to the Philippi East Police Station. The haul included:
- three firearms
- six empty rifle magazines
- seven empty pistol magazines,
- 99 rifle sounds
- 13 long nose revolver rounds
- 60 rounds of various other ammunition
Considering this, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith stated that every firearm and bullet is potentially a life-saving and a crime-preventing. While the officers should be lauded for taking guns off the streets on a near daily basis, the harsh reality is that the flood of illicit weapons continues.
He added that it is the very low conviction rate for gun possession, mostly due to an under-resourced SAPS and NPA. They will not stop the call for a devolution of investigation and forensic powers. They understand what this means and the mammoth task ahead of them, but the Safety and Security Directorate is ready. Until then, the officers will continue to make streets safer, one illegal firearm at a time.
Smith added to his statement that he also joined the SANDF, SAPS and the City enforcement agencies for a patrol. It was encouraging to see the working relationship between all three and they must ensure that these patrols are led by intelligence.
The challenge will further ensure that they have additional SANDF boots on the ground within the Metro. They should utilise them effectively to make a lasting impact by targeting the high-flyers in the communities who are driving the shootings.