On Monday, 28 July, the SAPS anti-kidnapping task team confiscated 30 illegal firearms in Meyersdal, Johannesburg. The weapons, two of them pictured, were destined for Cape Town. Two people were arrested. (Photo: SAPS) 
Ashraf Mia (34) and Deon Emmanuel (49) appeared briefly in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 31 July after their arrest in Johannesburg for possession of 30 unlicensed firearms destined for Cape Town.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/firearms-found-in-the-boot-a-Mercedes-Benz.jpg "The 30 9mm firearms police confiscated on Monday, 28 July, were found in the boot of a Mercedes-Benz. (Photo SAPS)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/firearms-confiscated2.jpg "The intelligence-driven operation involving various units, including SAPS crime intelligence, the Gauteng Provincial Investigating Unit, Johannesburg K9, JMPD and private security, led to the arrest of two men. (Photo SAPS.")
On Friday, Free State Police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele confirmed the appearance. He said both accused remained in custody and that the case had been remanded until Thursday, 7 August, for further investigation.
The charges against the two stem from their arrest by the South African Police Service (SAPS) anti-kidnapping task team in Meyersdal on Monday, 28 July. According to national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, they were found with 30 unlicensed 9mm firearms.
Mathe further explained that SAPS believed it had broken the back of a syndicate involved in the trafficking of unlicensed firearms to the Western Cape.
“Their arrest follows several days of surveillance and information-gathering across provinces where suspects involved in the moving of unlicensed firearms were identified. As suspects collected the firearms, the team moved in for a coordinated tactical takedown in Meyersdal.
Mathe said an “intelligence-driven operation involving various units, including SAPS crime intelligence, the Gauteng Provincial Investigating Unit (PIU), Johannesburg K9, JMPD and private security” led to the arrest of two suspects in Meyersdal, Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, former Western Cape detective head Major General Jeremy Vearey told Daily Maverick the 30 seized firearms illustrated the demand for firearms by gangs involved in bloody gang wars in Cape Town.
Gang-infested areas of Cape Town are gripped by fear due to ongoing gang violence, exacerbated by mass killings as a result of taxi violence and extortion.
Read more: Western Cape’s ‘killing fields’ highlight devastating impact of illegal guns
According to Claire Taylor, a researcher at Gun Free South Africa, the SAPS’s success demonstrates exactly the kind of strategic policing approach needed to effectively combat gun smuggling syndicates that stood in stark contrast to the ineffective stop-and-search operations that had failed to meaningfully disrupt illegal firearms trafficking.
Similar case before the Western Cape high court
Another case with remarkable similarities is that of Anderson Padayachee, a Durban gun dealer, accused of selling firearms or ammunition to the notorious Terrible Josters gang between 2018 and 2019, fuelling the brutal gang war on the Cape Flats.
Padayachee allegedly sold the Terrible Josters a .223 Saiga, 20 shotguns, a .22 LR Beretta rifle, two .303 Lee Enfield rifles and a 7.62x39mm Norinco rifle. He was also allegedly selling the gang pistols. The State claims the gang paid him R700,000.
He was arrested by Shavon Felix, a Laingsburg police sergeant, during a high-speed chase involving a VW Polo that took place on Saturday, 9 June 2018.
When the police brought the vehicle to a halt and searched it, they discovered a firearm magazine containing 16 rounds inside the vehicle, as well as a bag in the boot containing 17 new firearms and magazines. Padayachee was allegedly the driver of the vehicle.
He faces an array of charges, including eight counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder, violating the Prevention of Organised Crime Act and several crimes under the Firearms Control Act.
The State contends that eight people were killed by firearms registered with Padayachee’s gun dealership. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges in the Western Cape Division of the High Court in Cape Town.
Demand for illegal guns
Vearey further told Daily Maverick that the availability of illegal firearms and ammunition had grown to a point that police and City of Cape Town law enforcement officers confiscated illegal weapons and ammunition daily in gang-infested Western Cape communities.
“The foundation of this lucrative business was formed when more than 2,000 [weapons] worth about R9-million, earmarked for destruction, fell into the hands of Western Cape gangs. That established the tone, and the demand for more firearms surged,” he said.
Disgraced former police officer Chris Lodewyk Prinsloo, who was responsible for selling the 2,000 firearms, was paroled in April 2020.
Project Impi – South Africa’s biggest weapons smuggling investigation – revealed that about 2,000 firearms smuggled by police could be linked to the shooting of 261 children, 1,666 murders, and 1,403 attempted murders.
Another case stemming from the Prinsloo matter involves Irshaad Laher, a self-employed businessman, and Alan Raves, a firearms collector and heritage firearms expert and inspector. The two are accused of smuggling the firearms to members of criminal gangs on the Cape Flats. Prinsloo is set to testify against them when the trial begins in the Western Cape High Court later this year.
Firearms most preferred weapon to commit murder
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said during the release of crime statistics for the fourth quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year, which runs from 1 January 2025 to 31 March 2025, that firearms were the most frequently used instruments in the commission of murder, followed by knives.
The previous quarter, from 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024, the Western Cape recorded 263 gang-related murders. Of those, 135 occurred in gang-infested areas such as Bishop Lavis, Mitchells Plain, Kleinvlei, Delft and Elsies River.
Earlier this month, the SAPS destroyed 14,595 firearms and firearm parts in Vanderbijlpark including 11,421 handguns, 1,708 rifles, 1,205 shotguns and 28 combination firearms.
A breakdown of the number of firearms destroyed per province:
- Gauteng – 4 676
- Western Cape – 3 117
- Eastern Cape – 1 834
- Kwazulu-Natal – 1 600
- Limpopo – 989
- Free State – 836
- Mpumalanga – 664
- North West – 446
- Northern Cape – 433
How to rid communities of illegal guns
Taylor said that, unlike illicit drugs, which were usually manufactured illegally, firearms were most often legally registered before being diverted.
“As such, we urge the authorities to now focus on tracing the origin of these firearms to identify all parties in the supply chain to both hold all stakeholders accountable, but also to identify and close the loopholes that allow guns to be smuggled. This would include identifying which manufacturer/s, importers and dealers were involved and documenting the mechanisms used to import these guns,” she said.
On stopping firearms from entering the Western Cape, she said that gun smugglers didn’t respect borders.
“While we absolutely need intelligence-led operations focused on crime hotspots to deploy resources effectively, we must also recognise that addressing gun violence requires tightening controls over the entire licensed firearm chain to prevent them from leaking into the illegal market in the first place,” she said.
Efforts by SAPS and law enforcement agencies
According to police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut, firearm-related crime remains a top priority for the SAPS in the Western Cape, where firearms are frequently used to commit serious and violent offences.
SAPS analysis of convictions found that their detectives had regularly achieved high conviction rates, which include;
- 2021/2022 financial year: 86% conviction rate for illegal possession of firearms
- 2022/2023 financial year: 86% conviction rate for illegal possession of firearms
- 2023/2024 financial year: 89% conviction rate for illegal possession of firearms
“These results reflect the dedicated efforts of the investigators, prosecutors and the broader criminal justice system to hold offenders accountable and enhance public safety and are the rates for all firearms confiscated by SAPS and other law enforcement agencies,” Traut said.
Cape Town mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said that the city was committed to assisting the SAPS to address gun violence.
“We believe that our track record has shown that, despite the limited resources and policing powers, we have made a massive impact in the fight against crime, and we are ready to do more. It would be helpful if we could all agree on the broader definition of conviction rate, which would aid the public in better understanding the issues,” he said.
“In recent years, I have continually called for the devolution of the police service in the Western Cape and even across South Africa. The city has made significant investments into crimefighting technology as well as the formation of various units, including the Metro Police Gang and Drugs Task Team (GDTT) and the Leap Reaction Unit to combat gang violence, but does not have investigative powers to assist when these cases go to court,” he said.
The impact of illegal guns
Melanie Kiel, whose son, Dudley Richards, 17, was shot and killed with an illegal firearm on 2 December 2013, says she still finds it deeply painful to hear news of others being gunned down with illegal firearms.
She is among nine people who are part of a class action lawsuit application against the South African Police Service (SAPS), launched in the Western Cape High Court.
“The use of illegal firearms, especially on the Cape Flats, is increasing daily. It is critical to get these illegal guns off the streets – people are being killed every day. Every time someone dies from an illegal gun, it reopens old wounds,” she said. DM