29/09/2026
The City of Cape Town condemns the decision by the Athlone Magistrate’s Court to release three men, found in possession of AK47s and over 350 rounds of am******on, on bail.
This devastating decision comes after the amazing work by our LEAP officers in Nyanga earlier this year, when they recovered an arms cache after responding to a public tip-off.
At the time, officers were on patrol in Crossroads when members of the public alerted them to a suspicious vehicle in the area.
They located the Ford Ranger, and after pulling over the driver, they discovered four ri**es, a 9mm pistol and am******on in the vehicle. After a count, officers discovered that the suspects were in possession of over 350 rounds of am******on, various car registration plates and other suspicious electrical equipment.
Today, our teams were informed that the suspects were each released on R5,000 bail and the case postponed to January next year. This is despite the opposition to their release by the State.
The endless supply of illegal weapons on our streets is of great concern, and more so the appearance of high-powered ri**es. This court ruling has undone the hard work by the LEAP teams to remove weapons and am******on from our streets.
It is incomprehensible that, after a weekend where more than 30 people were killed in mass shooting incidents, most likely involving illegal fi****ms, the court can make this decision.
Had it not been for proactive policing by the LEAP officers, these weapons could have cost many lives, similar to Lwandle.
I hope that SAPS will continue to investigate how the suspects came into possession of such weapons, but the actions by the court must be condemned in the strongest terms.
We will never win this war if the criminal justice system continues to allow criminals to walk free on our streets.
