FIVE ARRESTED FOR POSSESSION OF FIREARMS IN 48 HOURS

Ivory Park officers have on Tuesday night, 12 May 2020, arrested a 32-year-old man for alleged possession of a police issued firearm. The officers arrived at the scene in Kaalfontein as the mob was assaulting the suspect.

The suspect was caught by umphakati (community) after he allegedly attempted to rape a local woman who screamed for help. People came out in numbers, caught him and began to assault him. Fortunately for the suspect, the police got wind of what was happening, rushed to the scene where he was rescued, even though he had been injured. A firearm was recovered, and it was found to have been stolen from Makhado, in Limpopo.

This suspect’s arrest brings to five the number of people arrested for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition in the Ivory Park policing precinct in the past 48-hours. In the early hours of Tuesday, four suspects, aged between 29 and 32, were arrested in Ivory Park’s Extension Two for alleged possession of two firearms and ammunition. One of the firearms, a Norinco, had serial numbers and was found to have been registered to a security company based in Limpopo.

The station commander of the Ivory Park SAPS, Brigadier David Mbongeni Ngcobo, has welcomed these arrest, and has in the same breadth, called on members of the community to refrain from taking law in their own hands whenever they have caught a suspect for any transgression.

“We appreciate the fact that people chose to come forward with information to the effect that someone was in possession of a firearm, and we call on the community to continue being our eyes and ears considering the fact we cannot cover every nook and cranny of this area,” said Brigadier Ngcobo.

All of the five are expected to appear in the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court to face charges that have been brought against them.