Weapons stolen from naval base South Africa
28 July
2016 - 08:26BY GRAEME HOSKEN
Fears are mounting that weapons - including hand
grenades, explosives and heavy- calibre machine guns - stolen from South
Africa's biggest naval base - are being stockpiled.
Hand grenades, machine guns, pistols and hundreds
of rounds of ammunition were stolen when six storerooms at the Simon's Town
Naval Base armoury were broken into at the weekend.
The burglary was discovered on Monday.
Western Cape community safety MEC Dan Plato said
there had been two other burglaries at the base, between March and April.The
police say they know nothing of the earlier burglaries.
The base is a national key point.
Other than a brief statement confirming the
"loss of various types of military equipment", SANDF spokesman
Brigadier-General Xolani Mabanga failed to respond to detailed questions on the
burglaries.
Captain Lloyd Ramovha,
Western Cape Hawks spokesman, said a housebreaking and
theft case was being investigated.
The military took flak this month when Rapport
newspaper revealed that security contracts for five of the country's biggest
munitions depots had lapsed because the military failed to pay the contractors.
Soldiers guarding Bloemfontein's Tempe military
base were attacked in August. Two sentries were robbed of their firearms and
ammunition.
A military inquiry found them negligent - it was
discovered that they had been asleep on duty.
Military sources told The Times that, among the
weapons and munitions taken in the latest burglary were 77 hand grenades, and
Uzi sub-machine guns and R1 rifles."An audit is being conducted.
There's a lot missing, including possibly 12.75mm
and 20mm machine guns, and explosives other than hand grenades."The area
is in lockdown. Military intelligence is working with the Hawks.
"This is being investigated as a crime against
the state," a source at the base said.Researchers and experts have warned
of the possibility of weapons being stockpiled.
Ben Coetzee, a small-arms researcher, said that,
because of the size of some of the weapons reportedly taken, such as the 20mm
machine guns, "it's unlikely that they will easily be moved out of the
country.
The only logical conclusion is that these weapons
and munitions are being stockpiled for some purpose".
He said that if heavy-calibre weapons such as 20mm
machine guns had been taken they were unlikely to be used to commit crimes such
as mall robberies."They're heavy and can't be carried by one person. They
will possibly be mounted on vehicles and used against armoured cash-in-transit
vehicles," Coetzee said.
He said the theft was concerning on many
levels."First, it is an indication that our security services are being
targeted to obtain weapons and that people are successfully obtaining these
weapons.
It shows the lack of security in protecting these
weapons."Defence analyst Helmoed Heitman called for a rigorous inquiry and
stepped-up security.
Kobus Marais, a DA MP, said the theft was a symptom
of a bigger security problem facing the country in terms of protecting its
sovereignty.
"It's not only this attack. Security contracts
for the protection of military munitions depots, which are national key points,
have lapsed. Weapons and ammunition, both obsolete and current, are lying
unprotected because contractors were not paid.
"This and other burglaries at Simon's Town
Naval Base point to a serious flaw in the security of military munitions.
"Plato said clarity was needed on how
criminals not only gained access to the naval base but also to the "highly
secure" armoury - and then were able to leave carrying the weapons and
ammunition without being detected.
Plato said he had received information that other
burglaries had taken place at the naval base."The police deny knowledge of
these burglaries but we continue to receive information about them and this is
[said to be] the third security breach at the base."
