Fight crime: 33.000 firearms in South Africa destroyed

In the past week, the South African police karrie a huge mountain firearms to Vereeniging. In the small town on the river Vaal was once the British colonial power with the recalcitrant settlers of the peace Treaty, which ended in 1902, the Second Boer war. Now the place is to make Johannesburg a contribution to peace in the country. The officials headed to the site of the steel giant Arcelor Mittal. The whole Arsenal of weapons, which they had brought back was melted down, more than 33,000 pieces: 30.913 firearms, 1454 rifles, 894 shotguns and 725 parts of disassembled weapons.

Thilo Thielke

Free Rapporteur for Africa, based in Cape town.

The collection that you could equip a small army, had come together in just a few months. Between April 2019 and March 2020, the South Africa had made niches custodians of law and order for two different promotions already, more than 52,000 weapons harmless in this way. Most of the weapons had been collected in larger raids, said the police spokeswoman Brenda Muridili, others were reported by South Africans, which had caused the presence of the weapons discomfort. Specifically, the police pointed out that, in the destruction of the firearms to the law on hold. 13. In may, it was announced the destruction of action open to the public. Three weeks ago, the owner had time to prove that you were rightfully armed.

South Africa is one of the countries with the highest crime rate in the world. Between April 2018 and March 2019, more than 21,000 people were murdered, in the average, every day 58. So the murder rate had risen compared to the previous year by 3.6 percent. A day were committed in South Africa, 144 rapes or other sexual offences. Every three hours is murdered, a woman is five times as much as the global average. According to the statistics, the number of the murdered children had risen dramatically. 1014 minors had been killed, therefore, almost 30 percent more than in the previous year.