Almost 2,000 firearms destroyed in SA-Lesotho operation

By Johnathan Paoli

South African and Lesotho police have destroyed 1,787 firearms seized during crime-fighting operations in Lesotho, as part of a joint effort to prevent illicit weapons from returning to criminal hands.

Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane and Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) Commissioner Borotho Matsoso jointly presided over the destruction on Friday.

Dimpane said the initiative demonstrated the practical benefits of cooperation between law enforcement agencies in the region.

“As we observe African Amnesty Month, this partnership between SAPS and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service demonstrates what regional cooperation can achieve. We are not only taking firearms out of circulation; we are taking concrete steps towards the Africa we want to see by 2063, an Africa where communities are safer and where illicit firearms no longer fuel crime and violence,” she said.

The firearms were seized by LMPS officers during crime-fighting initiatives and targeted operations in Lesotho before being transported to South Africa for destruction.

The operation forms part of regional efforts to curb the proliferation and cross-border movement of illegal firearms. It coincides with African Amnesty Month and supports the African Union’s “Silencing the Guns” initiative under Agenda 2063, which seeks to build a peaceful, secure and prosperous continent.

Dimpane said SAPS remained committed to strengthening international and regional policing cooperation through joint investigations, intelligence sharing and coordinated operations.

This included information exchanges, intelligence-led policing, coordinated border management and the tracing and permanent removal of illegal firearms from circulation.

Matsoso said cross-border policing was essential to tackling crimes that extended beyond national boundaries.

“Continued cooperation between the Lesotho Mounted Police Service and SAPS is important to uproot crimes such as human trafficking, stock theft, car theft and truck trafficking. Today’s destruction demonstrates collaboration between two countries committed to fighting crime together,” he said.

The two countries’ respective Interpol National Central Bureau offices played a key role in coordinating the transportation of the firearms.

The destruction forms part of a broader SAPS firearms-control programme aimed at permanently removing weapons seized during police operations from circulation.

Two months ago, SAPS destroyed 11,859 firearms, along with 4,089 blank guns and air guns.

The police services said destroying seized weapons was critical to preventing them from being stolen, diverted or returned to criminal networks.

The operation also falls under the frameworks of the Southern African Development Community and the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation, which promote cooperation among regional law enforcement agencies.

SAPS and the LMPS said closer collaboration was needed to disrupt transnational organised crime, trace illicit firearms and strengthen policing along their shared border.

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