A car chase between two suspects and a police patrol car lead to the arrest of the men and the recovery of an unlicensed R5 rifle.
This was a huge success for the police as the arrest of the men and the confiscation of the weapons could possible have prevented a future crime.
Three officers were on duty patrolling the N4 and N12 from the Middleburg Toll Plaza on July 18. At about 23:00 they noticed the suspicious Volkswagen Golf and when they signalled the driver to pull over the suspects instead sped off leaving the officers with no other option but to give chase.
The police kept up for nearly the whole 20 km stretch of road from the toll plaza to the Watermeyer Street off ramp where the driver of the Golf apparently lost control of his vehicle and ramped into the side of the barricade. The driver seemed to have been seriously injured and the passenger had injuries on his face.
An example of a R5 rifle that was confiscated by police in another case.
In spite of this they were ordered by the police to step out of their vehicle where they were cuffed and arrested. The charge against them is for illegal possession of firearms as police found a R5 rifle and a loaded magazine. The serial number was scratched off.
Recently the Brig Delisiwe Motha from the Witbank SAPS spoke out against the possession of unlicensed firearms when they confiscated several hunting rifles from a home which was not licensed and apparently not kept in a safe. The SAPS takes these cases very seriously because many armed robberies are committed with stolen firearms and owners do not report these cases because their firearm licences are not up to date or they where negligent in storing the weapons.
Sgt David Ratau, a spokesperson for the Witbank SAPS, elaborated on the importance of firearm serial numbers,
“It makes it difficult to trace the firearm. Usually these firearms are stolen that we find with the serial numbers removed.”
The benefit of knowing a stolen weapon’s serial number is that if the firearm can be traced then the police are able to link the culprits to other crimes.
The two suspects that were cased down and caught are Steven Hlale and Engen Sebopa. They had their initial court appearance early last week in the Witbank Magistrates Court their next court appearance has not yet been confirmed.
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