The Durban Regional Court sentenced Daniel Casparus Reynecke (65) to an effective 15 years imprisonment following his conviction on four counts of theft of firearms, two counts of possession of prohibited firearms as well as possession of ammunition and loss of a firearm.

Reynecke was a warrant officer with the South African Police Service, attached to the Durban Organised Crime Unit (OCU) and worked for the SAPS from 1976 to 2015. 

During his career, Reynecke was stationed at various policing units in KwaZulu-Natal and part of his duties were to investigate criminal matters. This would mean fetching firearms (involved in offences) and taking them for ballistic testing.

The SAPS practice is for the exhibit clerk to accept the exhibits and to record such officially in the SAP13 exhibit register. When an exhibit is booked out for whatever reason, the SAP13 or exhibit register would be updated to indicate what was removed, who removed it and for what reason.

According to Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, the regional spokesperson of the NPA, during the commission of his duties, Reynecke would book out the exhibits (firearms) and not return them.

“Following a detailed investigation, it was discovered that Reynecke was the investigating officer in the matters where the firearms found in his possession, were exhibits. Two of the firearms, which he signed for in 1997 and 2001, were found in a river in Amanzimtoti, about 500 metres away from where he resided at the time.

“Other firearms were found in his office, even though there was a standing order which did not permit the members of the OCU to keep exhibits on the premises. Two of the firearms found in his office had no dockets registered for them and no serial numbers, thus rendering him in possession of prohibited firearms,” she said. 

He was arrested after an audit was conducted on the Exhibit/ SAP13 Storerooms at 71 police stations throughout KwaZulu-Natal.

In court, senior state advocates, Annelise Harrison and Yoliswa Nyakata led the documentary evidence as well as the testimonies of SAPS officials, who explained the procedures for the SAP13 exhibit register. The state also led evidence directly linking Reynecke to the recovered firearms.

Reynecke was sentenced to five years imprisonment for the theft of firearms (all taken as one for the purpose of sentencing, 10 years imprisonment for the possession of firearms (taken as one) and three years imprisonment for the loss of the firearm and possession of ammunition (taken as one). The three years will run concurrently with the 10 year sentence, resulting in the effective 15 years imprisonment.

“The NPA welcomes this successful prosecution and commends the work done by the prosecution and the investigating team. This matter is indicative of the NPA’s commitment to holding state officials accountable for their unlawful actions,” she concluded.