‘Prinsloo Gun Leaks’: Gun Free SA takes aim at Saps

Gun Free South Africa (GFSA), a non-governmental organisation devoted to diminishing gun violence, has initiated class action proceedings against the minister of police.

The civil lawsuit aims to hold law enforcement accountable for injuries and fatalities allegedly linked to improper firearm management.

The Cape Flats firearm crisis

The focus of the class action is the illicit activities of senior South African Police Service (Saps) member Colonel Christiaan Prinsloo.

At a press conference announcing the lawsuit, Adèle Kirsten, CEO of GFSA, expressed concern about the structural integrity of firearm control in South Africa.

She cited the ease with which Prinsloo could exploit existing system loopholes, leading to a mass movement of weapons from police stores to the streets.

Bid for hope and redemption

“The initiation of this class action represents a beacon of hope,” Kirsten declared, calling on the Minister of Police to rectify the situation, express remorse and provide some relief.

The secondary objective of this lawsuit is to reinforce the system of gun control in South Africa.

GFSA is seeking justice for families affected by gun violence, with papers lodged at the Western Cape High Court to hold police accountable for this breakdown in firearm control.

The way forward

GFSA has outlined two key measures for the aps to undertake:

• Meet with the affected families, express apologies, and acknowledge the failings of the institution they lead.
• Actively rectify the system and recover all firearms in illegal circulation, especially the so-called ‘Prinsloo guns’.

With 30 fatalities and hundreds of injuries occurring daily on the Cape Flats, the urgency of the issue cannot be overstated.

The obscene algebra of gun violence: that a mother feels privileged because her child was injured rather than killed by a gun. This violence brutalized and dehumanizes – across generations. #gunfreesa

— Janet Jobson (@janet_jobson) May 10, 2023

This infamous legacy continues to haunt the Cape Flats, adding urgency to Gun Free SA’s plea to the minister of police.

Legacy of the ‘Prinsloo Guns’

Colonel Christiaan Prinsloo was convicted and sentenced in 2016 on multiple charges, including racketeering, corruption, and money laundering, related to smuggling lethal weapons to Cape Town gangsters, valued at around R9 million.

Prinsloo confessed to selling over 2 000 firearms, stored within police custody, to gang leaders operating on the Cape Flats.

Tragically, 1 200 of these firearms are still unaccounted for, continuing to circulate from legal to illegal markets.

As of 2016, Saps records indicated that ‘Prinsloo’s guns’ were implicated in at least 1 066 murders, with 187 children among the victims.

Still grappling with the aftermath

In March, GFSA announced its intention to seek damages for deaths and injuries resulting from the actions of Prinsloo and his accomplice, Colonel David Charles Naidoo.

Lynn Phillips, Secretary of the Cape Flats Safety Forum, applauded GFSA’s initiative.

As a witness to the devastating effects of gun violence in Cape Flats communities, Phillips insists that the Saps has a crucial role in ensuring the safekeeping of firearms.

“We are currently grappling with the aftermath of these stolen guns,” Phillips stated, highlighting the need for accountability for the stolen firearms and the ongoing investigations into the perpetrators involved.