By Lisalee Solomons.
Police have arrested a 31-year-old South African National Defence Force (SANDF) member for possession of an unlicensed firearm and several pieces of ammunition, including a cache of R5 ammunition and empty R1 cartridges.
This after police received a tip-off that a soldier in Brandwag, Bloemfontein, had stolen firearms and ammunition worth R90 000 from the Tempe Military Base in Bloemfontein and had been selling them to members of the public.
Free State police spokesperson Sergeant Mahlomola Kareli said the soldier was caught red-handed at a block of flats in Brandwag, Nelson Mandela Drive, just after 22:00 on Wednesday.
“On arrival at one of the units, a male person was arrested after police found an antique rifle, a stun grenade, sixty R5 live ammunition pieces, five empty R5 rifle magazines and three empty R1 rifle magazines tucked away under a bag in the bedroom,” Kareli said.
The soldier was arrested for possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court soon.
SANDF spokesperson Siphiwe Dlamini alleged that the soldier had stolen arms and ammunition to the tune of R90 000.
He said a police cap was also found among the items.
The Department of Defence Media Statement || Friday, 25 August 2023 || The Department of Defence welcomes the arrest of a SA National Defence Force soldier in Bloemfontein on 22 August 2023.#SANDF#DCCMediaLiaison pic.twitter.com/rBJPdxFG9C
— SA National Defence Force (@SANDF_ZA) August 25, 2023
“The SAPS operationalised information received from a registered source [of] a soldier residing in Brandwag who was suspected of stealing firearms and ammunition and selling them to unknown individuals of the public,” Dlamini said.
SANDF chief, General Rudzani Maphwanya, warned soldiers: “No acts of criminality will go unpunished in the SANDF.”