Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen is thrilled that the first payout, amounting to R 3 000.00, for reporting an illegal firearm was made on 28 February 2024. The recipient, who for security reasons cannot be named, reported the illegal firearm in early December 2023 at the Gansbaai South African Police Service (SAPS) station.
SAPS swiftly acted on the tipoff, confiscated a .38 Revolver, along with 2 x 9mm rounds and arrested a suspect. The suspect is due to make another court appearance on 27 March 2024. Should there be a conviction in this matter, the beneficiary will receive a further R 2 000.00.
Minister Reagen Allen said: “My sincere gratitude goes to the individual for filing this report and ensuring that we could get another illegal firearm off our streets. It is brave citizenry such as this that we as the Western Cape Government (WCG) seek to reward. Collaborative efforts such as these are undoubtedly assisting in ensuring greater safety is achieved across our province. We have worked hard to ensure that processes are in place so that when a report comes in, all protocol is followed. These protocols will assist SAPS in taking illegal guns out of the hands of criminals.”
The reward system, which is R 5 000.00 in total, encourages residents to report the location of illegal firearms by dialing 021 466 0011. The person reporting the firearm can do so anonymously, or they can share their details with the trusted SAPS officers that will field the calls. The details of the person reporting the firearms will under no circumstances be made public. Upon reporting the firearm, it will be collected by SAPS. Once it is confirmed as an illegal firearm, R 1 500.00 will be awarded to the individual who reported it. When an arrest is made that is directly linked to the firearm, a further R 1 500.00 will be paid to the person who reported it and should there be a conviction that is tied to the firearm, the balance of R 2 000.00 will be paid out to the person who made the report.
Minister Reagen Allen added: “Illegal firearms are a menace to our society. The third quarter, October to December 2023, crime statistics show that of 1 072 murders, 617 (57, 5%), which is the highest, were committed using a firearm.”
“As the WCG, our aim is to reverse this trend, and halve the murder rate by 2029. We are ready to reward more of our residents. I urge the wider public, particularly in our murder hotspot areas where our Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers are deployed to follow this individual’s example so that more illegal firearms may be removed from our communities. We all have a role to play and though this programme every resident can be a part of the solution,” concluded Minister Allen.
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