Police ‘gave guns to gangs’
Cape Town - Notorious gang bosses, police and security
company staff face arrest as part of an extensive police probe into a
countrywide syndicate that allegedly issued fraudulent firearm licences.
Police at the Central Firearm Registry in Pretoria
are suspected of having created successful gun licence applications on the
police’s computer system and then issuing the licences to some of the leading
gangsters and drug dealers in the Western Cape.
Jeremy Vearey, the head of Operation Combat, which
is heading the investigation in the province, said police had analysed hundreds
of gun licences and identified many individuals and companies who apparently
benefited from the syndicate.
“We will painstakingly work through a lot more
licences,” he said.
Three police officers from the firearm registry are
already facing criminal charges and more are expected to follow.
Vearey warned: “Everyone will be facing charges in
due course. We’re going through every single licence application that went
through this network.”
He said, aside from gang leaders, others being
probed as part of the syndicate included:
* Three security companies, in the Western Cape and
other provinces, for having procured gun licences through the syndicate.
One company had 56 firearms, the second 42 firearms
and the third 12.
* Firearm training facilities which may have been
part of the chain in the syndicate.
* Range marshals who claimed to have seen a licence
applicant at a training facility, when the applicant may never have been there
in person.
Vearey said police were focusing on all aspects of
the syndicate – who was involved in the syndicate, who got licences from it and
which firearm training facilities may have been involved. People who had
fraudulently obtained licences could face charges of corruption, illegal
possession of a firearm and fraud.
The syndicate came to light when, as part of
Operation Combat, alleged gang kingpin Ralph Stanfield, the nephew of the late
Cape Town druglord Colin Stanfield, was investigated.
Stanfield, his partner Nicole Johnson and sister,
Francisca Stanfield, were arrested in June and, according to a police
statement, seven firearms were seized.
The Central Firearm Registry was raided in June and
three police officers – Priscilla Mangyani, Billy April and Mary Cartwright –
arrested. The case against the six resumes in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court
next year.
In an affidavit, Stanfield, who faces charges
including illegal possession of firearms, said he would plead not guilty.
“These firearms were not bought off the street. I did not go into a back alley
and acquire firearms. I went to a registered firearms dealer.
“I did all the necessary training… It is
self-evident that the police are targeting their own people who they believe to
be corrupt who have issued firearms licences,” his affidavit said.
Andre Pretorius, president of the Professional
Firearm Trainers Council, also expressed doubts about the police probe.
In June three police investigators from Cape Town
visited Pretorius, who is based in Gauteng, and asked questions about the
process Stanfield had undergone to obtain a semi-automatic rifle.
Stanfield had apparently gone to a firearm training
academy outside Johannesburg.
This week Pretorius said he had not come across any
irregularities at the training academy Stanfield had apparently attended. He
said nobody but the police could issue firearm competency certificates and
issue firearm licences.
Weekend Argus
