According to information, on Wednesday, 21 March 2023, around 16:00, Police in Belfast were conducting a stop-and-searches. They then came across a man holding a wrapped black plastic bag.

It was during this time as they were searching him, that they discovered a firearm with an empty magazine, inside a wrapped black plastic that he held.

The man had no licence for the firearm hence he was apprehended and charged accordingly.

Further investigation revealed that the firearm was reportedly stolen during a housebreaking and theft incident which occurred at a farm in Belfast.

Police cannot rule out the possibility of adding more charges against the suspect as the investigation continues more so with regard to the housebreaking and theft case.

The firearm will undergo ballistic testing to determine whether it was not previously used in the commission of crime elsewhere.

The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has welcomed the arrest of the suspect as well as the recovery of the firearm.