Out of 699 illegal firearms that have been confiscated in the Western Cape, none have been destroyed in the first quarter of this year. This was revealed by the MEC of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen in a response to a question by the chairperson of parliament’s standing committee on community safety, Gillion Bosman.  The news comes days after Gun Free SA’s class action against the Western Cape SAPS for the deaths of people who were killed by guns that were sold to gangs by SAPS members.

Guest: Reagan Allen, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Community Safety and Police Oversight

According to Gun Free SA, police records show that since 2016, guns distributed by Christiaan Prinsloo to gangs killed 166,000 people, 67 of them children, with thousands more injured.

The organisation’s director Adele Kirsten said they lodged the class action on behalf of nine families of children and relatives who has been killed or injured by "Prinsloo guns".

"And so, for these families and for Gun Free South Africa, one of the aims is to ensure some kind of justice for the family."

The nine families include Andre and Dianne Cornelius, whose 16-year-old son Dillan Cornelius was fatally wounded in a shooting in Manenberg in August 2013.

Kirsten said this should never happen again.

"One of the purposes of this class action is to ensure the state and particular SAPS, takes seriously the need to recover weapons that are currently circulating, particularly in communities on the Cape flats."

The South African Police Service indicated they would respond to the class action later on Thursday.

In 2016, Prinsloo was handed an 18-year jail sentence for a slew of charges including corruption, racketeering and theft after entering a plea and sentencing agreement with the state.  The case against his alleged accomplices — firearms dealer Alan Raves and businessman Irshaad Laher, who is accused of selling stolen guns to gangs — is pending.  

Gun Free SA director Adéle Kirsten said Prinsloo and another senior SAPS Col David Naidoo stole and distributed more than 2,000 guns that were held in police stores waiting for destruction, to gang leaders on the Cape Flats between 2007 and 2015.   

“SAPS records show that as of 2016, Prinsloo guns killed 1,066 people, 67 of whom were children, while thousands more were injured [by the same guns],” said Kirsten.  

Kirsten said 888 of the guns stolen by Prinsloo were forensically linked to murders in the Western Cape between February 2010 and June 5 2016. She said 187 children between the ages of one and 17 were shot between February 2010 and December 2015 with guns stolen by Prinsloo. Of the more than 2,000 guns Prinsloo admitted to stealing, more than 1,000 are still missing, Kirsten said.  

Gun Free SA filed its application in the high court in Cape Town on Tuesday. The first leg of the litigation is “to apply for certification of a class action against the police to claim for damages resulting from the theft and supply of guns in police stores by criminals by two senior police members”.   

“Gun Free SA argues that SAPS is at fault for failing to uphold its constitutional, statutory, and international obligations, which allowed Prinsloo and Naidoo to steal and distribute guns and ammunition undetected and for years,” said Kirsten.  

“SAPS’ reports, which are based on forensic data, show that between 2007 and June 2016, Prinsloo guns were used in the commitment of at least 2,784 crimes in the Western Cape alone. This includes 1,066 murders, 1,403 attempted murders and 315 other crimes. 

“SAPS reports further show that as of 2016, as many as 1,012 Prinsloo firearms were still in circulation, and are likely killing and injuring further victims. Consequently, Gun Free SA argues that the class-action must include victims of Prinsloo’s guns dating from 2007 until the present day.”