The FF Plus demands that the former commander of the Norwood Police Station, Col. Phetole Mahasha, must be held criminally liable if The Hawks’ investigation reveals that he is indeed involved in the theft of firearms from this police station.
His resignation must not pardon him from being held accountable.
Under Col. Mahasha’s command, 175 firearms went missing between 2014 and 2020, 134 of these were pieces of evidence and 41 were amnesty firearms.
As a result, successful prosecution was hindered, which amounts to obstruction of justice.
The FF Plus participated in an oversight visit to the Norwood Police Station on 2 February 2022 and requested that a comprehensive firearm audit must be conducted not only at this particular police station, but also at all other police stations in Gauteng to determine whether the same pattern is present elsewhere.
In too many cases, firearms go missing from police stations, end up in the hands of gangsters and are then used to commit crimes.
In one incident, a police officer was wounded by one of the missing Norwood firearms during a shoot-out between the police and armed robbers, while another one of these firearms was used to commit a crime in Mooinooi.
If The Hawks’ investigation, which is still underway, reveals that other police officers were also involved in the matter, they must be criminally prosecuted.
The message to police officers must be loud and clear: You are not above the law.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Kobus Hoffman on FF Plus
